Dear Australia-China twitter. I am being threatened with defamation action unless I meet 4 demands. What did I do? I tweeted a link to a piece written by a journalist on an individual who for years has used social media, prolifically, including in DPS work time, to “link” (1/n)

Australians to the Communist Party of China (CPC). I included a comment that I found this practice appalling because it unfairly slurs the loyalty of those targeted, in particular, Chinese-Australians who are particularly vulnerable and some of whom I have known personally. (2/n)

Few have the resources to mount a legal defence. In my tweet I also explicitly supported Australia’s policing and intelligence agencies in their fight against foreign interference. That’s it. I am the director of a research institute at an Australian public university, the (3/n)

only one in the country focused exclusively on Australia-China relations. Apparently, those who instigated this action think free speech means I should keep my views in the space to myself. Over the years I have received all manner of abuse, including death threats. I’ve (4/n)

let these go through to the keeper. After all, Australia-China twitter has a feisty reputation internationally. You want to talk about the fundamental importance of free speech? Can I suggest the CPC is not the only problem. (5/n)