February 11, New Delhi – Two Chinese nationals appeared in court on Wednesday after Australian police charged them with foreign interference for allegedly secretly collecting information about a Buddhist group on behalf of a Chinese government security agency. This is the second instance of Chinese nationals being charged under Australia's foreign interference laws, which were introduced in 2018. The pair are the fourth and fifth individuals to face such charges. The Australian Federal Police stated that a 25-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman allegedly worked with another Chinese woman, who was charged in August, to gather information about the Canberra branch of the Buddhist group, Guan Yin Citta. Each defendant faces a charge of foreign interference, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.