I have worked some fairly strange jobs as a reporter, however investigating allegations my landlord was spied on by China might take the cake.
Last August the AFP laid Australia’s first foreign interference charge against a Chinese national, alleging a woman, who is also an Australian permanent resident, was tasked by China’s Public Security Bureau to covertly gather information about the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, a Buddhist association.
Two weeks ago, two more Chinese nationals were charged with the same thing, with investigators claiming the trio acted together.
Zheng Siru, 31, a 25-year-old man known by the court-issued pseudonym Joseph Vance, and a woman given the name Thomas Tyler were arrested by the AFP and charged with foreign interference offences.
Officers allege Beijing targeted Guan Yin Citta having taken the view that any Chinese political or religious movement which it does not control was a threat.
All three accused are permanent residents and have pleaded not guilty, with Vance and Zheng having been released on bail.
The first arrest in August prompted me to do some digging, and I was more than a little surprised to find out the business name for Guan Yin Citta is the Australia Oriental Media Buddhist Charity Association (AOMBCA), which was listed on my lease as the name of my landlord.
I was even more surprised when I remembered that the Australia Oriental Media Buddhist Charity Association also owned the nearby house which my brother rents.
Since the company is a charity its information is fairly public and visible. A quick ACNC search revealed there are three organisations listed to the Chippendale offices:
Australia Oriental Media Buddhist Charity Association (who own my and my brothers houses and are the business name for Guan Yin Citta), the World Chinese Diabetes International Incorporated (WCDII), and World’s parliament of Religions foundation Inc (WPRFI).
According to a 2025 financial report the AOMBCA holds about $48 million worth of property, despite this – and the at least two investment properties we know about through sheer coincidence – revenue from investments make up only 17 per cent of their overall revenue, with the remaining 83 per cent coming from “donations and bequests”.
The three charities are largely run by the same people, one name is listed as the director of the AOMBCA and the secretary of both the WCDII and WPRFI.
Another is the director at AOMBCA, and the treasurer at both WCDII and WPRFI.
A third is another director at AOMBCA and a committee member at both the WCDII and WPRFI.
Another is a public officer at WCDII and WPRFI.
All three charities have only five listed staff members, they have not been named here for legal reasons.
The fairly obvious subsequent questions along the lines of “Why does this Buddhist organisation own a bunch of rental properties?” and ,“Why is the Chinese Communist Party allegedly spying on them?” follow naturally.
Needless to say all this made me very curious as to what was going on with the sub-religion that turned out to be my landlord, yet brought me no closer to achieving answers.
After months of writing to them and receiving no response and after hearing the organisation was an alleged victim of further spying charges I decided to try to give them a visit.
The front door is an imposing featureless maroon with Chinese writing saying “please ring the doorbell”.
Multiple attempts to ring the doorbell were unsuccessful, so I went round to local businesses asking if they’d seen or heard anything.
A worker at a restaurant next door said the people at the organisation kept to themselves.
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Despite opening 13 years ago, they had never had a single conversation with any of the members. The worker said: “Even walking down the alleyway [adjacent] one second they’ll be there. You look away and they’re gone.”
They also said members regularly fed the nearby ibises, that the operation seemed to pick up yearly around the Chinese lunar new year and that at one point they were told a radio station was on site.
Another owner at the pub opposite said they’d never had contact with the group either but that once a day a tinted out grey car would arrive, drop someone off and leave.
They also said monks come and go from the building “fairly regularly”.
This all corroborated my own experience with the organisation via them being my landlord, I – nor anyone at the property – never had any contact with the landlords themselves, everything was handled through the real estate agents, same with my brother.
Once I requested the landlord’s contact details but the real estate agent said that the organisation preferred all matters to be handled via them.
One renter at one of the properties owned by Guan Yin Citta told news.com.au their house had never to his knowledge had direct contact with the landlord.
“Once when repairs were being done on the house a monk showed up with the tradies doing repairs,” he said.
“The monk did not seem to be playing an active role in repairs but was just more hovering around. It was quite weird.
“I even caught him using the toilet when I walked in as he’d forgotten to lock the door.”
The renter said the information that three people had been arrested for allegedly spying on their landlord “felt weird for sure”.
Based on the rent cost of the two known properties, the organisation would need to be renting out around eight properties to make up their revenue from investments.
“This seems like a lot of real estate for a charity to have in the heart of Sydney,” the renter said.
After months of failed attempts to contact the organisation, they issued a statement saying:
“Australian Oriental Buddhist Association Incorporated is a lawfully registered charitable organisation in Australia, subject to Australian regulatory oversight.
“All of its activities are conducted lawfully, and all financial matters are subject to appropriate regulatory supervision.”
So, what actually is Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door?
Guan Yin Citta is a Buddhism affiliated religion founded by Master Lu Jun Hong.
Mr Jun Hong was born in 1959 in Shanghai China before moving to Australia at a young age and founding Guan Yin Citta.
Materials from Guan Yin Citta state that Master Jun Hong was an earthly manifestation of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, a Buddhist icon of compassion.
“By performing ‘totem reading’ based upon someone’s year of birth, gender and Chinese zodiac sign, he [Jun Hong] reveals their past, present and future, and points out what truly causes the ups and downs in our daily lives,” its book, Little Houses, claims.
The Guan Yin Citta website also features testimonials claiming that reciting Buddhist verses on Lu’s instruction has led to miracles and employment opportunities.
“I released 2000 fishes, diligently recited Buddhist sutras prescribed by Master Lu, and vowed to adopt a vegetarian diet for more than 20 days a month,” wrote one follower. “A month later, I went for another physical exam, and I was told that the test results were normal. What a miracle!”
Bitter Winter, an Italian based magazine focusing on religious freedom and human rights in China, reported that Guan Yin Citta was successful in Australia and became a “global phenomenon, with hundreds of thousands of followers”.
Bitter Winter also reported that the Chinese government declared the religion ‘xie jiao’.
A DFAT information report on the People’s Republic of China published in December 2024 said the translation of the term xie jiao is debated, “with scholars pointing to its historic translation as ‘heterodox religion’”.
“However it has negative connotations when used by the Government of China and is unlikely to be used by adherents of new religions themselves. Restrictions against xie Jiao date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD)”.
“The China Anti-xiejiao Association publishes an unofficial list of xie jiao, which includes 23 movements. There is an official list of xie jiao published by the government, which can change quickly.”
Attempts by news.com.au to access the current official and unofficial lists of xie jiao to verify Guan Yin Citta’s presence were unsuccessful.
Mr Jun Hong died in 2021.
ASIO and the AFP declined to comment on the case before the courts.
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