Alex Joske | |||||||||
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周安瀾 | |||||||||
 Joske onVoice of America in October 2022 | |||||||||
| Born | Alex W. Joske c. 1996 | ||||||||
| Education | Australian National University(B.A.) National Taiwan Normal University | ||||||||
| Years active | 2018–present | ||||||||
| Employer(s) | McGrathNicol,Australian Strategic Policy Institute | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 周安瀾 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 周安澜 | ||||||||
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| Website | Twitter account | ||||||||
Alex W. Joske (Chinese:周安瀾;pinyin:Zhōu Ānlán) is aChinese-Australian author,sinologist,open-source intelligence researcher, and risk consultant who investigates theChinese Communist Party (CCP), particularly itsinfluence operations. Previously a researcher with theAustralian Strategic Policy Institute, his writing has appeared inThe New York Times,The Washington Post, andNBC News[1][2][3][4] His first major work influenced legislation in theUnited States Congress to banChinese military (PLA) officials from sensitive U.S. government laboratories.[5][6] He was publicly banned from entering China by the Chinese government in 2020 due to his work.[7] In 2022, he released his first book,Spies and Lies, about the clandestine operations of theMinistry of State Security andUnited Front Work Department.
Alex Joske grew up inBeijing as a teenager, and is fluent inMandarin Chinese.[8] He attended theAustralian National University, graduating in 2018 with aBachelor of Arts inChinese language. In September 2016, Joske and fellow student,cyber-dissident and Chinese expatWu Lebao, attended an ANU gala organized by Chinese students. After being reportedly cornered and trailed to a bathroom by organizers from theChinese Students and Scholars Association, Lebao and Joske published a 2017 exposé inWoroni about the association and their experiences with its members at the gala.[9] Later in his university studies, he spent a year atNational Taiwan Normal University studying Chinese.[5] After graduation he spent a year working atCharles Sturt University as a researcher forClive Hamilton for his book,Silent Invasion: China's Influence in Australia. Both Joske and Hamilton were later banned from China in the same press release from Chinese state-run news.[7]
In 2018, Joske joined theAustralian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) as its youngest ever researcher, working on China-related analysis for the next four years.[10] At ASPI, he wrote prolifically on the CCP'sunited front work, thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA), and theMinistry of State Security (MSS).[11] His first ASPI report "Picking flowers, making honey", on the PLA's use of research collaboration with foreign universities to advance itstechnology transfer efforts and weapons research, catalyzed legislation in theUnited States Congress to ban Chinese military researchers from U.S. government-funded laboratories.[5][6][12]
In September 2020, Joske was banned from entering China. TheGlobal Times, a CCP mouthpiece, announced his ban – alongside that of Clive Hamilton – without explanation.[7][13][14] In a public response, Joske described the ban as "the latest attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to… …punish those who shine a light on its activities", noting that the accuracy of his research had never been challenged by the Chinese government.[15]
In May 2022, he joined Australian corporate risk advisory firm, McGrathNicol, as a senior risk advisor.[16]
In October 2022, Joske released his first book,Spies and Lies, detailing Chinese espionage practices, particularlyChinese intelligence activity abroad. The book attracted attention for its exploration of the MSS' successful cooption of Australian prime ministerBob Hawke to rehabilitate China's image following the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[17][18] The book was reviewed inForeign Affairs andThe Economist.[19][20]
In 2024, Joske testified as anexpert witness in the trial ofShujun Wang regarding linkages between the MSS and theOverseas Chinese Affairs Office.[21]
Chinese state media reports that I have been banned from entering China are the latest in a series of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to punish those who shine a light on its activities. I am proud of my research on the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to interfere in politics and transfer technology from around the world. The accuracy of my research on these topics has never been seriously challenged by the Chinese government. I will continue to study these globally important issues. While I grew up in China and would love to return in better times, I decided years ago that the Chinese government's actions have made the personal risk from traveling to China too high. I have not held or applied for a Chinese visa in years.
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