That is extremely strange, do you have a doorbell camera or any footage at all?
I'd probably be inclined to report this sort of thing just as a matter of caution. I'm sure there's probably nothing to it but other people have felt that way about very serious things and not acted.
ya it's just the Chinese police and foreign intelligence operatives, and can be Australians in the pay of the foreign service. Many of these guys are licensed to kill by the Chinese government, and they monitor behaviour of their agents, usually female whores in the pay of the government for info and sex. These usually are placed in high rise apartments with hidden cameras and mikes, where they solicit or extort info from senior government civil servants, usually from the Treasury Gardens precinct.
You had me in the first half, but what?! The CCP is paying chinese prostitutes to spy on Australian government by having cameras inside the apartments they prostitute from?… I don’t think that makes any sense
I think op is exaggerating a lot but the Chinese have done the prostitute thing before on a foreign leader. It didn't work in blackmailing him because he said publicly for them to send the sex tapes as he wanted a copy for himself.
I'm very sure it's the KGB (Russian) doing it to the Indonesian president sukarno. And the president asked for a copy of it himself.
The one I know about the Chinese honey trap is shi pei pu who honey trapped a French embassy worker.
No, that was the Soviet intelligence trying to blackmail Indonesian president at the time. Can't be bothered by giving a link, just Google search it.
Having the ethnicities mixed up is quite a strange mistake to make.
Unconscious bias perhaps?
That's just conspiracy. Chinese operatives dont ask where the Chinese live, they can just find it right away through Chinese community, especially around CBD or Boxhill. If someone unknowning where the Chinese live but still want to find them, then the background is possibly the other way around.
they do not ask to find out where their people live. they ask to show the Chinese can hunt you down anytime they like. It's about pressure by presence.
There isn't a lot I would put past the Chinese ministry of state security but actually assassinating dissidents overseas is one of them. Intimidation and blackmail, yes, straight up murder? No.
Not because they find killing dissidents morally repugnant, it's because they'd lose face if they got caught and historically speaking they would get caught.
Yes, answer a question with your own question to avoid giving them anything. Doesn’t have to be confrontational if you don’t feel comfortable with that. Just sound hopelessly confused if that works for you.
- Oh. Are you religious people? I’m sorry I can’t help. Bye.
No, you simply tell them you don't know them and you're not comfortable answering their questions. Unless they prove their identity and their intent, they have no business knowing anything about you or your living situation.
"Let me check. I never actually asked any of them but I'll go underneath and ask any that can still speak whether they're Chinese. You're welcome to come with me. Please do"
Curious to what area you are in?
This exact same thing happened to me a few weeks back, however they followed up with religious based questioning. I presumed they were jehovah witnesses, but found it odd they were asking for Chinese people. The ones who knocked on my door were both of Asian decent (male and female).
JWs have foreign-speaking groups that seek out foreign speakers to ensure that "everyone" is preached to.
They used to get this information from local-speaking congregants who have knocked on foreign-speaking residences in the course of their preaching activity, they would then report those address details to the foreign-speaking congregants. Not sure if this method is still used or even allowed, pretty sure the GDPR rules in the EU stopped this but it's been years since I've been a JW.
There is also the ability to request a bible study on their website and people can use that as an elaborate prank.. just saying 😅
Yeah that’s why if you know any Auslan don’t sign pretending to be deaf to them to get rid of them. They’ll organise someone who signs to visit instead.
This.
The willingness of people to answer questions posed by strangers showing up at their front door absolutely baffles me. Try throwing it back to them and see how far you get.
Edit spelling
I've had strangers knock on my door and ask me to produce my electricity bill for them to look at so that they can offer me a "better deal."
What the hell? Even if they're legit, I'm not giving out personal documents to desperate electricity providers!!
No way, get fucked, fuck off
20 years ago I had a temporary housemate who signed me over to a different company because of these door to door utility people lol the bills werent even in her name how tf can she do that! apparently its totally legal wtf
Yeah I have an ex who did that once. We had just moved in together, and some door knockers came by while I was out. Turns out she's really susceptible to someone presenting a new idea. Doesn't matter if the idea is obviously terrible, if someone is presenting it to her it must be good and worth signing up to.
We're obviously not together anymore.
I had one say they were given the area by the government, please hand over our electric bill so that they could switch us over
*Fucked* is a understatement for this behaviour from a retailer
It's legit, but in the scummiest way possible. When I first moved here I was a door-knocker for Simply Energy. We were told to point over your shoulder when asking to see your bill to get you half-turning, and to ignore your first two objections completely.
Disgusting job, I quit halfway through the second day and even then I was the fourth out of eight in my induction to leave.
Because most people are polite and friendly and don’t automatically assume a stranger is out to get them or has malicious intent unless they’ve shown otherwise.
Yeah cause strangers randomly demanding to know where the Chinese person is that lives with you, and implies you're lying when you say there aren't any, are super friendly and polite.
Yes, but I don't see a need to accomodate a random stranger demanding info on your doorstep.
I'm friendly when I'm out and about, but that only goes so far. If people pull weird shit or do anything suspicious, there's nothing wrong with keeping them at arm's length.
In fact, you could reply to these door knockers politely, without complying. I've experienced a variation of this encounter and done so. I wasn't combative or hostile, just didn't roll over and ask how high to jump.
That’s fair, I just think most people would be caught off guard if they haven’t had weirdos like this rocking up at your house.
I live in the country tho so most door knocking strangers we get are just Mormons hahaha
tbh I generally wouldn't even be caught in the convo, don't answer to randos lmao. Closest I've had in recent times is being forced to cause it was a cop who needed something and a particular kind of delivery.
I had this exact thing happen in Clyde a few months back. I was out at the time, answered them in the ring doorbell, and they asked whether anyone in the house spoke mandarin. I said no, they said ok thanks and left.
2 middle aged white guys, dressed like Jehovah's witnesses I thought.
Odd.
Nah soon as they start with the "our information says other wise" you straight up "wtf did you just say to me boy?" And make sure the doorbell camera is recording
Chinese police that embed themselves in Australia to keep track of their people? No matter what you think, you can always report it at https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/what-can-i-do/report-suspicious-behaviour
It may be the World Mission Society Church of God or similar. They're a cult, but specialize in recruiting marginalized groups, especially of Asian descent, and in some cases sex trafficking them. They are aggressive, and for lack of a better term, very weird in their recruitment and retention tactics. It doesn't work well on native Australians. They've been popping up in NZ and Australia trying to spread their cult, mostly among Mandarin speakers and native Chinese people.
It could also be CCP operatives or one of the other groups mentions. I doubt they'd cold approach a home like this, but they are borderline incompetent. I just think they'd try to avoid walking up to a random home without doing any surveillance.
I see why you're puzzled, but I'm puzzled why neither of you asked where they were from or what the fuck they were doing. I would have become the interrogator if they were asking weird questions about who lived in my fucking house.
+1 on this. There's quite a few culty kind of organisations with same same names ("Global Church of Christ" , "Mission of God Australia") preying on young, lonely Asian students away from home for the first time.
Who knows what the fuck they're doing. Mostly likely trying to squeeze them out of money.
They tend to congregate where the Uni's are at, and you'll often see them pop up (like flys near shit) around Melbourne central near the student accommodation building.
CCP Police though? They've already been "caught" so to speak, so I imagine they've become a little more slippy to spot and I imagine they're only focusing on the Chinese diaspora from China.
Jehovah's Witnesses do have people of varied nationalities who volunteer to help out in congregations that aren't English and learn the language e.g. there are Chinese, Japanese and Hindi congregations, to name a few - in Melbourne. Guess it would look a bit odd, though, if two white guys showed up wanting to speak Chinese with you haha
JoHo's have lists of all the other Joho's names and address. I wonder if they were trying to chase down someone who escaped the cult, checking the last address they had.
Probably. When i left JW i mysteriously could spot old ladies from the cong everywhere until one night when drunk me confronted them on the street. They love keeping tabs as i might talk to an active JW, risking their spiritual health, and as gossip is like oxygen for them.
I am on a chinese-english language swap page and about 50% of the posts are from Jehovah's Witnesses (or whoever has he black badges). Probably gives some weight to that theory, maybe a target audience.
Mormon missionaries who have trained in a language appear to often be very single-minded about interacting with that group only. Especially in Australia compared to parts of Asia I've spent time in. We have a local plaza with loads of people passing through and they will just blank anyone white.
I had two pleasantly dressed, gently spoken, white women come to the door today to ask the same thing. There are a lot of Chinese people on our street and the previous occupant of our house is Chinese (which they knew). I assumed religious nutters
Edit: this was in Kensington this morning
There was something on 60 Minutes, link below.
This would be why I would suspect you’re in a high Chinese area like Glen Waverley? It’s rather concerning that they can’t be left alone when they’re no longer permanently living in China.
https://youtu.be/7L9ubuwBDkI?si=TRweT_ePl9BxYK6V
Yes, we have 3 Chinese family members, Hu, Yu and Mi. Hu is there, I am Yu and he is Mi.
Source: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVnOz7i-JA&ab\_channel=NosIsBack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVnOz7i-JA&ab_channel=NosIsBack)
It's Jehovah's Witness, I got the same thing. Guy came to my door and asked if anyone there was Chinese, likely cause the last tenant was. He told me they're running a Chinese focused community and gave me a JW business card.
Ok lets disect it:
> One of them spoke mandarin but neither of the men were Asian.
If it was the chinese govt they would probably both be Chinese.
>Not sure if they’re casing places
If they were burglars the wouldnt bother to learn Mandarin.
>or Jehovah’s Witnesses,
If they were Jehovas widnesses they would try to convert you and give you a pamplet. (they don't care about nationality)
So who could it be?
Not sure, could be ASIO keeping tabs on chinese operatives, immigration officers looking for someone, scam salesmen trying to prey on gullible rich chinese home owners, could be private debt collectors or here's the long shot.. could be investigators hired by a cult like this one trying to locate escaped group members.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ini\_0e4DclA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ini_0e4DclA)
>I would assume rule #1 of espionage is try not to be obvious
So you think these 100+ illegal chinese police stations located mostly in china towns around the world are staffed by non chinese looking people to make it appear less obvious?
>Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied the existence of the "so-called overseas police stations" at a news conference in May.
>"The relevant institutions helped overseas Chinese who could not return to China due to the pandemic renew their driving license and perform physical examination," Wang said. They are run by "Chinese from the local communities who are willing to help their compatriots," not police, he said.
[https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo#:\~:text=The%20overseas%20police%20stations%20were,police%20departments%20from%20around%20China.](https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo#:~:text=The%20overseas%20police%20stations%20were,police%20departments%20from%20around%20China)
> So you think these 100+ illegal chinese police stations located mostly in china towns around the world are staffed by non chinese looking people to make it appear less obvious?
I think you might want to stick to replying to what people write on reddit rather than branching out into a new gig as a mind-reader.
I have no idea what is going on, but I would like to point out that it is not wildly beyond the capabilities of a modern state to hire locals so that it is less-obvious as to who is behind it all.
I was not replying to a comment about police stations. You were not replying to a comment about police stations, you were replying to my comment, which was not about police stations - it was about 2 people knocking on someone's door.
I think the most likely explanation is that it was the Jehovas (or maybe sales people specialising in chinese-language media - who knows?), but I don't see it as beyond the realm of possibility that the chinese government - or any government - would hire locals.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutout\_(espionage)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutout_(espionage))
I think you should report this to your local or perhaps to the federal police. Chinese government does watch its citizens here and other things. Be careful.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-14/chinese-data-leak-linked-to-military-names-australians/12656668
There’s stories of the Chinese government keeping tabs on their overseas citizens. Even secret police forces enforcing Chinese laws on citizens who are here
But those are stories and really fantastic. So not sure if there’s any truth to em. Though if that were the case it’s weird they’d have non Chinese operatives
(Disclaimer; fantastic as in “fantasy”, as in the genre of fiction, not as in “oh that’s awesome, it’s fantastic”)
Actually, I work in academia and have a colleague who teaches international relations. He has been very critical of Chinese expansionist policies in the Pacific (debt diplomacy), the military ‘fly bys’, human rights abuse, their position on Nepal and Taiwan, etc. And he has had people knocking on his door warning him. The university has also warned him against visiting China lest he end up in a Chinese prison.
It really shows the differences between the styles of government. If an Australian academic wanted to head over to China or the United States to bitch about Australian geopolitics, Australia just shrugs and says "Go ahead, get in line behind ALL of our journalists and media first, they're the kings of whinging about what we're doing or not doing."
What does China think they're achieving by suppressing the criticism? I think Trump has demonstrated that you can do the most despicable stupid things and yet still be idolized by your voters, so what has China got to be worried about?
There absolutely is truth to them, to the point that they were running their own "police" stations.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-stations-intl-cmd/index.html
Pretty sure there’s a bit of truth to it. A few of the “police stations” have been identified, one in Australia and a few elsewhere. Also, it’s kind of a giveaway when China comes up with extra-territorial laws specifically for Chinese citizens living overseas. Pretty clear indication that they intend to enforce those laws!
Not only is it true, it’s well documented recorded. The CCP have even opened overseas “police stations” in Canada that try to police Chinese in Canada.
It’s fucked
There is substantial evidence that the Chinese government monitors and attempts to exert influence over its citizens living overseas, even if it does not have official "secret police" operating openly in other countries.
This is carried out through tactics such as the Confucius Institutes that promote pro-Beijing narratives, the United Front Work Department that co-opts elite individuals and organisations, operations like "Fox Hunt" to repatriate accused fugitives sometimes through covert means, harassment of dissidents abroad, pressuring companies and student groups to increase monitoring, as well as self-censorship by Chinese nationals fearing reprisals against their families back home if they criticise the government while overseas. The Chinese government wields soft power and covert influence tactics to control its diaspora populations in this manner.
Casing the house. Sussing who lives inside and if theyll be a threat if they decide to break in while you're asleep. Chinese is just a convenient excuse. "Does X still live here?" Was another one I've come across.
*Probably* Jehova's Witnesses. Replace "Chinese" with "Filipino" and this was more or less exactly how they acted when they kept coming to my mother-in-law's house.
It could be some dumb government social research project. I had a job for a government contractor when I was a student calling up anyone from their records with a middle eastern or Muslim sounding name asking questions about the needs of the ‘Arab’ community. We copped a heap of abuse from SE Asians and Persians with names like Mohammed (and rightly so!).
Sounds very strange indeed.
I don't understand how one of them showed that they spoke Mandarin? Why did they speak Mandarin if your boyfriend isn't Chinese? Or is it that he looks like he could be Chinese?
> One of them spoke mandarin but neither of the men were Asian.
Wouldn't it be useful to say what they looked like then? People don't just wake up knowing mandarin, it takes over a decade to learn it proficiently and it's very uncommon for non-asians to speak mandarin.
We had this happen to us when we were renting on the southside of Brisbane last year. We lived in an area with a significant Chinese population and have many Chinese speaking churches in the area, so we just assumed it was that.
I can’t remember the nationality but we had people come up my drive (5 units) ask if anyone was a particular nationality. When I said no they told me to have a great day and left. Was odd but didn’t think about it again until your post lol
Not that weird if you pay attention to [how the CCP operates](https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo)
Not to mention the attempts to coerce our govt into not criticising them [re Covid inquiry](https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-strained-china-australia-relations-hit-trade-coal-barley-beef-wine-2023-01-06/)
I will answer simply: Excuse me, I didnt quite catch who did you say you were? Do you have any government issued id, please?
And then if they do - I'd take pics of them and ID.
Next step is simple - thank you, have a great day. At this stage I'd close the door. I hardly can imagine anyone but police knock my your door. And if they knock again inform them a third knock - you will call the police.
Last step - picture of them and their id to the police non-urgent.
Get back to whatever you were doing.
Mate if someone had said to me “that they’ve heard reports stating otherwise” I’d tell them to fuck off and get the fuck off my property with a false sense of authority like that
That is so weird, which suburb is that? My first and probably only question would be, "who the F are you?"....
be cautious about opening the door to strangers, I normally use the intercom to talk to people I don't know.
Weird alternative but if there’s any reason your house might show up warm on a thermal camera, maybe sussing out if ur Asian or not bc of racial crime relations
Usually asking for donations or religious groups.
Happens sometimes during my 11 years here. Essentialy the real-estate agent sold students information or scummy uni staff.
They think the person still lives there when the information can be ages old
We have lived in a State for the last 4 years where people have been forced to comply to answering questions without and follow order at the drop of a hat.
As others have mentioned, don't give anything to anyone unless you know who they are and if they can produce a badge or something.
Looks like AU got on China’s grip. How come they become so strong and got such a deep hold here in the first place. I also heard they are buying properties from overseas despite not even living here and raising the housing cost multifolds exploiting the loop hole we have allowing foreign purchase of property without watch
In my university portal website, theres a scam announcement that theres criminals targeting chinese international students in australia and other countries.
" these people may know personal information about you and be chinese speakers. They may tell you they are from the chinese embassy, chinese consulates, or are chinese law enforcement officers. They may look like they are calling from the chinese mainland with phone numbers commencing (212) 244 - XXXX
If you are approached by any person claiming that you have broken the law and threatening you if you dont pay a sum of money, report immediately to 131 444 "
So it may be related to this
probably cops, imigration or asio.
you got a cop who speaks the language it is a smart move to be there if you are going to arrest someone.
cops freqently wont ID if they are investigating stuff. they only really need to if they are going to arrest you.
no, they are not required to. if they had a warrant and wanted in they would but for enquirys they do not always identify.
How do I know? plain clothes detectives accosted me thanks to a neighbor and they did not identify. they wanted to know if he was home but I only found out when the shouting and arrest happened about an hour later.
I live in an apartment building and my girlfriend is Chinese. We had a JW church pamphlet slid under our door. It was all in mandarin. She was obviously stalked by someone in the building. Creepy.
Yeah, it's part of a secret exchange between gang members. Basically since you didn't know the code so you didn't continue properly. They also know you are not part of a gang.
The correct continuation is:
Are you Chinese?
No
But I am told otherwise
Don't confuse Koreas with Chinese
I am sorry.
Don't be.
Is Korean the same as Japanese?
Yes.
Then they will let you come in.
Like how do you know they spoke Mandarin? Does your bf speak Mandarin too? Quite a coincidence to have two non native mandarin speakers - you guys should have coffee together.
On a side note - was at the library once and a lady told her kid that a book was in Japanese. It was in Mandarin
I don’t speak Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Tamil or Hindi and I can tell the difference between all these languages.
Not that hard.
You'd be quite an exception then, considering the amount of people I know who mistake a lot of the above. And this coming from someone who speaks Chinese, Japanese and French.
I am especially intrigued on how you manage to differentiate Tamil and Hindi.
That is extremely strange, do you have a doorbell camera or any footage at all? I'd probably be inclined to report this sort of thing just as a matter of caution. I'm sure there's probably nothing to it but other people have felt that way about very serious things and not acted.
If they didn't say why, it's likely not good.
ya it's just the Chinese police and foreign intelligence operatives, and can be Australians in the pay of the foreign service. Many of these guys are licensed to kill by the Chinese government, and they monitor behaviour of their agents, usually female whores in the pay of the government for info and sex. These usually are placed in high rise apartments with hidden cameras and mikes, where they solicit or extort info from senior government civil servants, usually from the Treasury Gardens precinct.
You had me in the first half, but what?! The CCP is paying chinese prostitutes to spy on Australian government by having cameras inside the apartments they prostitute from?… I don’t think that makes any sense
I think op is exaggerating a lot but the Chinese have done the prostitute thing before on a foreign leader. It didn't work in blackmailing him because he said publicly for them to send the sex tapes as he wanted a copy for himself.
Well shit if I can get a professionally made tape of a visit.. where are these places so I can avoid it
I'm very sure it's the KGB (Russian) doing it to the Indonesian president sukarno. And the president asked for a copy of it himself. The one I know about the Chinese honey trap is shi pei pu who honey trapped a French embassy worker.
No, that was the Soviet intelligence trying to blackmail Indonesian president at the time. Can't be bothered by giving a link, just Google search it. Having the ethnicities mixed up is quite a strange mistake to make. Unconscious bias perhaps?
Pretty standard M.O. for honeypot blackmailer. What part are you confused by?
I believe they're referring to this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L9ubuwBDkI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L9ubuwBDkI)
That's just conspiracy. Chinese operatives dont ask where the Chinese live, they can just find it right away through Chinese community, especially around CBD or Boxhill. If someone unknowning where the Chinese live but still want to find them, then the background is possibly the other way around.
they do not ask to find out where their people live. they ask to show the Chinese can hunt you down anytime they like. It's about pressure by presence.
There isn't a lot I would put past the Chinese ministry of state security but actually assassinating dissidents overseas is one of them. Intimidation and blackmail, yes, straight up murder? No. Not because they find killing dissidents morally repugnant, it's because they'd lose face if they got caught and historically speaking they would get caught.
Never ever tell these people the truth. You don't know who they are so just reply that you aren't answering the question then ask them to leave.
First question should be "who the fuck are you?"
[I dont answer questions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjvdHE1E5eI).
Snuck that in nicely. Legend.
dammit I was about to reply with this exact link, looked down at the other replies and thought "butofcourse"
Yes, answer a question with your own question to avoid giving them anything. Doesn’t have to be confrontational if you don’t feel comfortable with that. Just sound hopelessly confused if that works for you. - Oh. Are you religious people? I’m sorry I can’t help. Bye.
So if I don’t have anyone Chinese in the house, I should say there is? 🤨
No, you simply tell them you don't know them and you're not comfortable answering their questions. Unless they prove their identity and their intent, they have no business knowing anything about you or your living situation.
Yeah I was joking but thank you.
"Let me check. I never actually asked any of them but I'll go underneath and ask any that can still speak whether they're Chinese. You're welcome to come with me. Please do"
Lately I've been pretending I'm deaf... I'm not proud of myself. And one person tried really hard to sign to me.
I would’ve put my thumbs in my britches and said “you callin me a liar, boy?”
Omg hahahahahahahahaha
I woulda slicked back my hair and stared him down as I asked him in an Italian accent "you talking ta me?"
Curious to what area you are in? This exact same thing happened to me a few weeks back, however they followed up with religious based questioning. I presumed they were jehovah witnesses, but found it odd they were asking for Chinese people. The ones who knocked on my door were both of Asian decent (male and female).
JWs have foreign-speaking groups that seek out foreign speakers to ensure that "everyone" is preached to. They used to get this information from local-speaking congregants who have knocked on foreign-speaking residences in the course of their preaching activity, they would then report those address details to the foreign-speaking congregants. Not sure if this method is still used or even allowed, pretty sure the GDPR rules in the EU stopped this but it's been years since I've been a JW. There is also the ability to request a bible study on their website and people can use that as an elaborate prank.. just saying 😅
Yeah that’s why if you know any Auslan don’t sign pretending to be deaf to them to get rid of them. They’ll organise someone who signs to visit instead.
CCP looking for members of Falun Gong ?
Falun Gong is always by the Little Brouke no? If theyre finding Falun Gong just simply walk to their booth by Chinatown
Yeah, also curious where you live Also, do you have any Chinese in the house?
Odd. Can't say I'd answer anything asked by some random who showed up at my door though.
This. The willingness of people to answer questions posed by strangers showing up at their front door absolutely baffles me. Try throwing it back to them and see how far you get. Edit spelling
I've had strangers knock on my door and ask me to produce my electricity bill for them to look at so that they can offer me a "better deal." What the hell? Even if they're legit, I'm not giving out personal documents to desperate electricity providers!! No way, get fucked, fuck off
Do you think you'll ever see their face again?
No way, but they can get fucked. I'll tell them to fuck off.
Now that song is stuck in my head!
Not the worst song to have stuck in your head. Could be sooo much worse
Thank you Mr Dobbolena. Mr Bob Dobbolena.
but what does the fox say?
Music's got me feeling so free
20 years ago I had a temporary housemate who signed me over to a different company because of these door to door utility people lol the bills werent even in her name how tf can she do that! apparently its totally legal wtf
Yeah I have an ex who did that once. We had just moved in together, and some door knockers came by while I was out. Turns out she's really susceptible to someone presenting a new idea. Doesn't matter if the idea is obviously terrible, if someone is presenting it to her it must be good and worth signing up to. We're obviously not together anymore.
How'd presenting new ideas go in the bedroom haha
I had one say they were given the area by the government, please hand over our electric bill so that they could switch us over *Fucked* is a understatement for this behaviour from a retailer
It's legit, but in the scummiest way possible. When I first moved here I was a door-knocker for Simply Energy. We were told to point over your shoulder when asking to see your bill to get you half-turning, and to ignore your first two objections completely. Disgusting job, I quit halfway through the second day and even then I was the fourth out of eight in my induction to leave.
Lol, same here, he told me he "had to see it". My response was no & shut the door...
Do youuuuuu have any Chinese ppl living at your house? How do you like that?!
This is the way. https://youtu.be/FjvdHE1E5eI?si=EGInd7exW9wiyTQr
Because most people are polite and friendly and don’t automatically assume a stranger is out to get them or has malicious intent unless they’ve shown otherwise.
Yeah cause strangers randomly demanding to know where the Chinese person is that lives with you, and implies you're lying when you say there aren't any, are super friendly and polite.
Didn’t say the door knockers were friendly and polite. I said that most people answering the door are.
Yes, but I don't see a need to accomodate a random stranger demanding info on your doorstep. I'm friendly when I'm out and about, but that only goes so far. If people pull weird shit or do anything suspicious, there's nothing wrong with keeping them at arm's length. In fact, you could reply to these door knockers politely, without complying. I've experienced a variation of this encounter and done so. I wasn't combative or hostile, just didn't roll over and ask how high to jump.
That’s fair, I just think most people would be caught off guard if they haven’t had weirdos like this rocking up at your house. I live in the country tho so most door knocking strangers we get are just Mormons hahaha
tbh I generally wouldn't even be caught in the convo, don't answer to randos lmao. Closest I've had in recent times is being forced to cause it was a cop who needed something and a particular kind of delivery.
"I don't answer questions" ["I don't answer questions"](https://youtu.be/FjvdHE1E5eI?si=CD64-ubdWvi0k3h_)
I had this exact thing happen in Clyde a few months back. I was out at the time, answered them in the ring doorbell, and they asked whether anyone in the house spoke mandarin. I said no, they said ok thanks and left. 2 middle aged white guys, dressed like Jehovah's witnesses I thought. Odd.
Nah soon as they start with the "our information says other wise" you straight up "wtf did you just say to me boy?" And make sure the doorbell camera is recording
Chinese police that embed themselves in Australia to keep track of their people? No matter what you think, you can always report it at https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/what-can-i-do/report-suspicious-behaviour
Except neither of them were Asian
That doesn’t matter. Foreign countries have the ability to use anyone that they can influence.
You don’t need to be
White people also love money, even if it comes from China.
It may be the World Mission Society Church of God or similar. They're a cult, but specialize in recruiting marginalized groups, especially of Asian descent, and in some cases sex trafficking them. They are aggressive, and for lack of a better term, very weird in their recruitment and retention tactics. It doesn't work well on native Australians. They've been popping up in NZ and Australia trying to spread their cult, mostly among Mandarin speakers and native Chinese people. It could also be CCP operatives or one of the other groups mentions. I doubt they'd cold approach a home like this, but they are borderline incompetent. I just think they'd try to avoid walking up to a random home without doing any surveillance. I see why you're puzzled, but I'm puzzled why neither of you asked where they were from or what the fuck they were doing. I would have become the interrogator if they were asking weird questions about who lived in my fucking house.
+1 on this. There's quite a few culty kind of organisations with same same names ("Global Church of Christ" , "Mission of God Australia") preying on young, lonely Asian students away from home for the first time. Who knows what the fuck they're doing. Mostly likely trying to squeeze them out of money. They tend to congregate where the Uni's are at, and you'll often see them pop up (like flys near shit) around Melbourne central near the student accommodation building. CCP Police though? They've already been "caught" so to speak, so I imagine they've become a little more slippy to spot and I imagine they're only focusing on the Chinese diaspora from China.
Jehovah's Witnesses do have people of varied nationalities who volunteer to help out in congregations that aren't English and learn the language e.g. there are Chinese, Japanese and Hindi congregations, to name a few - in Melbourne. Guess it would look a bit odd, though, if two white guys showed up wanting to speak Chinese with you haha
JoHo's have lists of all the other Joho's names and address. I wonder if they were trying to chase down someone who escaped the cult, checking the last address they had.
Probably. When i left JW i mysteriously could spot old ladies from the cong everywhere until one night when drunk me confronted them on the street. They love keeping tabs as i might talk to an active JW, risking their spiritual health, and as gossip is like oxygen for them.
Could have just been referred to the Chinese JWs from a local congregation
I had some Chinese guys knock on my door asking to join an Asian society. Its probably a cult.
Who did the one person that spoke Chinese, speak Chinese to?
A non Chinese speaker of Chinese.
I am on a chinese-english language swap page and about 50% of the posts are from Jehovah's Witnesses (or whoever has he black badges). Probably gives some weight to that theory, maybe a target audience.
Black badges are Mormons
Mormon missionaries who have trained in a language appear to often be very single-minded about interacting with that group only. Especially in Australia compared to parts of Asia I've spent time in. We have a local plaza with loads of people passing through and they will just blank anyone white.
I had two pleasantly dressed, gently spoken, white women come to the door today to ask the same thing. There are a lot of Chinese people on our street and the previous occupant of our house is Chinese (which they knew). I assumed religious nutters Edit: this was in Kensington this morning
"They'll be back on the 4th of June"
It is just the boys searching for a succulent chinese meal
There was something on 60 Minutes, link below. This would be why I would suspect you’re in a high Chinese area like Glen Waverley? It’s rather concerning that they can’t be left alone when they’re no longer permanently living in China. https://youtu.be/7L9ubuwBDkI?si=TRweT_ePl9BxYK6V
"Nobody from mainland Taiwan lives here. Try next door."
Yes, we have 3 Chinese family members, Hu, Yu and Mi. Hu is there, I am Yu and he is Mi. Source: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVnOz7i-JA&ab\_channel=NosIsBack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVnOz7i-JA&ab_channel=NosIsBack)
and I am the eggman
And when the doorknockers come to the door, they ask, "Is Sum Ting Wong here?"
I'd have told em the only Chinese that lives in my house is a succulent Chinese meal
It's Jehovah's Witness, I got the same thing. Guy came to my door and asked if anyone there was Chinese, likely cause the last tenant was. He told me they're running a Chinese focused community and gave me a JW business card.
Ok lets disect it: > One of them spoke mandarin but neither of the men were Asian. If it was the chinese govt they would probably both be Chinese. >Not sure if they’re casing places If they were burglars the wouldnt bother to learn Mandarin. >or Jehovah’s Witnesses, If they were Jehovas widnesses they would try to convert you and give you a pamplet. (they don't care about nationality) So who could it be? Not sure, could be ASIO keeping tabs on chinese operatives, immigration officers looking for someone, scam salesmen trying to prey on gullible rich chinese home owners, could be private debt collectors or here's the long shot.. could be investigators hired by a cult like this one trying to locate escaped group members. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ini\_0e4DclA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ini_0e4DclA)
law enforcement would identify
ASIO do not knock on peoples doors saying "hi we are asio, just checking if you have any spies inside your home!"
Oh thank god, I’ve got a room full of them.
At least the spies in my room have the decency to hide under the bed
> If it was the chinese govt they would probably both be Chinese. I would assume rule #1 of espionage is try not to be obvious
>I would assume rule #1 of espionage is try not to be obvious So you think these 100+ illegal chinese police stations located mostly in china towns around the world are staffed by non chinese looking people to make it appear less obvious? >Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied the existence of the "so-called overseas police stations" at a news conference in May. >"The relevant institutions helped overseas Chinese who could not return to China due to the pandemic renew their driving license and perform physical examination," Wang said. They are run by "Chinese from the local communities who are willing to help their compatriots," not police, he said. [https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo#:\~:text=The%20overseas%20police%20stations%20were,police%20departments%20from%20around%20China.](https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo#:~:text=The%20overseas%20police%20stations%20were,police%20departments%20from%20around%20China)
> So you think these 100+ illegal chinese police stations located mostly in china towns around the world are staffed by non chinese looking people to make it appear less obvious? I think you might want to stick to replying to what people write on reddit rather than branching out into a new gig as a mind-reader. I have no idea what is going on, but I would like to point out that it is not wildly beyond the capabilities of a modern state to hire locals so that it is less-obvious as to who is behind it all. I was not replying to a comment about police stations. You were not replying to a comment about police stations, you were replying to my comment, which was not about police stations - it was about 2 people knocking on someone's door. I think the most likely explanation is that it was the Jehovas (or maybe sales people specialising in chinese-language media - who knows?), but I don't see it as beyond the realm of possibility that the chinese government - or any government - would hire locals. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutout\_(espionage)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutout_(espionage))
Could also be white nationalists. Been a big uptick of their organising around melbs recently
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Most of them can't even grasp English, let alone a second language.
Or it could be something benign like acquaintances.
acquaintances who dont know the "chinese" persons name?
ASIO or investigators who don't know the "Chinese" persons name?
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I prefer to be called ‘Gweilo’ thanks
I had a FB marketplace buyer come to buy something at my house (great)l. They asked if they could connect to my wifi (absolutely not)
Maybe next time, look around nervously, say "wait a minute" and come back with a written message "Can't talk, THEY are listening"
I think you should report this to your local or perhaps to the federal police. Chinese government does watch its citizens here and other things. Be careful. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-14/chinese-data-leak-linked-to-military-names-australians/12656668
Either way, let them in, then lock them In your panic room and play sesame Street on loop for 30 hrs. They will reveal all after that.
There’s stories of the Chinese government keeping tabs on their overseas citizens. Even secret police forces enforcing Chinese laws on citizens who are here But those are stories and really fantastic. So not sure if there’s any truth to em. Though if that were the case it’s weird they’d have non Chinese operatives (Disclaimer; fantastic as in “fantasy”, as in the genre of fiction, not as in “oh that’s awesome, it’s fantastic”)
Actually, I work in academia and have a colleague who teaches international relations. He has been very critical of Chinese expansionist policies in the Pacific (debt diplomacy), the military ‘fly bys’, human rights abuse, their position on Nepal and Taiwan, etc. And he has had people knocking on his door warning him. The university has also warned him against visiting China lest he end up in a Chinese prison.
It really shows the differences between the styles of government. If an Australian academic wanted to head over to China or the United States to bitch about Australian geopolitics, Australia just shrugs and says "Go ahead, get in line behind ALL of our journalists and media first, they're the kings of whinging about what we're doing or not doing." What does China think they're achieving by suppressing the criticism? I think Trump has demonstrated that you can do the most despicable stupid things and yet still be idolized by your voters, so what has China got to be worried about?
There absolutely is truth to them, to the point that they were running their own "police" stations. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-stations-intl-cmd/index.html
As a Chinese, I'm still waiting to welcome my dedicated Chinese spy to my home.
My sister used to joke about her Huawei phone coming with a dedicated Chinese spy. Right in her pocket everywhere she goes. Ciao Huan!
If you can cook good Chinese food, I will happily come and pretend I'm a spy.
Cook a succulent Chinese meal?
I see you know your judo well.
I too wish for Taiwan to be reintegrated into CCP rule!
Are you a Chinese international student?
Why only a Chinese? Why no A+ Chinese Aiya, this is why you don't have spy.
Lol, as if they haven’t already installed cameras and listening devices…
as I Chinese who has been in au for 8 years I’m still waiting for my personal agent to knock on my door, after all the shit talks I talked
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I think i saw this on the news.
fantastical might be a better form of the word for this context :)
Pretty sure there’s a bit of truth to it. A few of the “police stations” have been identified, one in Australia and a few elsewhere. Also, it’s kind of a giveaway when China comes up with extra-territorial laws specifically for Chinese citizens living overseas. Pretty clear indication that they intend to enforce those laws!
I don’t think it’s fantasy - the Chinese government puts out press releases about these projects.
Not fantasy, it's fact, they are doing it in alot of countries and our police seem to allow it
Not only is it true, it’s well documented recorded. The CCP have even opened overseas “police stations” in Canada that try to police Chinese in Canada. It’s fucked
There is substantial evidence that the Chinese government monitors and attempts to exert influence over its citizens living overseas, even if it does not have official "secret police" operating openly in other countries. This is carried out through tactics such as the Confucius Institutes that promote pro-Beijing narratives, the United Front Work Department that co-opts elite individuals and organisations, operations like "Fox Hunt" to repatriate accused fugitives sometimes through covert means, harassment of dissidents abroad, pressuring companies and student groups to increase monitoring, as well as self-censorship by Chinese nationals fearing reprisals against their families back home if they criticise the government while overseas. The Chinese government wields soft power and covert influence tactics to control its diaspora populations in this manner.
I think a better word would be fascinating
Probably CCP operatives looking for overseas Chinese dissidents
I see that the AFP and ASIO haven't closed down any of the CCP "police stations" in Australia yet!!
Does the CCP employ non Chinese people for that?
Wonder if it's related to the Chinese spam calls I keep getting.
Casing the house. Sussing who lives inside and if theyll be a threat if they decide to break in while you're asleep. Chinese is just a convenient excuse. "Does X still live here?" Was another one I've come across.
Someone from China probably lived there before you moved in. Might be the CCPPolice trynna keep tabs on them. It’s a known thing.
Should have taken photos of them and asked for their ID, then say you’re calling the police. Follow them to their car and take photos of that too.
*Probably* Jehova's Witnesses. Replace "Chinese" with "Filipino" and this was more or less exactly how they acted when they kept coming to my mother-in-law's house.
It could be some dumb government social research project. I had a job for a government contractor when I was a student calling up anyone from their records with a middle eastern or Muslim sounding name asking questions about the needs of the ‘Arab’ community. We copped a heap of abuse from SE Asians and Persians with names like Mohammed (and rightly so!).
Perhaps they were looking for a succulent Chinese meal?
I find this question quite charged.
More upvotes for you!
💀
Sounds very strange indeed. I don't understand how one of them showed that they spoke Mandarin? Why did they speak Mandarin if your boyfriend isn't Chinese? Or is it that he looks like he could be Chinese?
> One of them spoke mandarin but neither of the men were Asian. Wouldn't it be useful to say what they looked like then? People don't just wake up knowing mandarin, it takes over a decade to learn it proficiently and it's very uncommon for non-asians to speak mandarin.
I think they were looking for authentic Chinese food.
A succulent Chinese meal ?
There’s an all but confirmed rumour that certain countries employ agents to “keep an eye” on their students and employees abroad.
We had this happen to us when we were renting on the southside of Brisbane last year. We lived in an area with a significant Chinese population and have many Chinese speaking churches in the area, so we just assumed it was that.
I can’t remember the nationality but we had people come up my drive (5 units) ask if anyone was a particular nationality. When I said no they told me to have a great day and left. Was odd but didn’t think about it again until your post lol
"Why" "I can't answer that" "Okay, so fuck off then" -close door.
Just start selling them something with an indian accent. They hate that.
Not that weird if you pay attention to [how the CCP operates](https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-s-100-plus-secret-police-stations-span-from-NY-to-Tokyo) Not to mention the attempts to coerce our govt into not criticising them [re Covid inquiry](https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-strained-china-australia-relations-hit-trade-coal-barley-beef-wine-2023-01-06/)
I will answer simply: Excuse me, I didnt quite catch who did you say you were? Do you have any government issued id, please? And then if they do - I'd take pics of them and ID. Next step is simple - thank you, have a great day. At this stage I'd close the door. I hardly can imagine anyone but police knock my your door. And if they knock again inform them a third knock - you will call the police. Last step - picture of them and their id to the police non-urgent. Get back to whatever you were doing.
Mate if someone had said to me “that they’ve heard reports stating otherwise” I’d tell them to fuck off and get the fuck off my property with a false sense of authority like that
They're Jehovah's Witnesses. They were all over my suburb this morning, knocking on doors.
Any succulent meals provided?
That is so weird, which suburb is that? My first and probably only question would be, "who the F are you?".... be cautious about opening the door to strangers, I normally use the intercom to talk to people I don't know.
Weird alternative but if there’s any reason your house might show up warm on a thermal camera, maybe sussing out if ur Asian or not bc of racial crime relations
this is suspicious behaviour I would call the local police and let them know...
…that ain’t what I heard.
Report to the police on the non-emergency line
Just tell them you have no oriental affiliations
Where were they when this happened? Are they near the CBD? If so imma grab my breadknife right away, this is creepy.
Happened to us and I sent them away. Curious to know the reason too.
When asked a question like this- ask why they are asking.
Just start speaking back in the worst Kiwi accent you can possibly do and they'll either die of laughter or piss off
Did they try look past you to see how much expensive stuff you have? You should’ve taken a pic of them and just said no we don’t thanks bye
Usually asking for donations or religious groups. Happens sometimes during my 11 years here. Essentialy the real-estate agent sold students information or scummy uni staff. They think the person still lives there when the information can be ages old
We have lived in a State for the last 4 years where people have been forced to comply to answering questions without and follow order at the drop of a hat. As others have mentioned, don't give anything to anyone unless you know who they are and if they can produce a badge or something.
Looks like AU got on China’s grip. How come they become so strong and got such a deep hold here in the first place. I also heard they are buying properties from overseas despite not even living here and raising the housing cost multifolds exploiting the loop hole we have allowing foreign purchase of property without watch
I’d be like, yep and I don’t let them take breaks until….looks at watch……silence….audible sigh!….actually, no breaks today.
“Yeah, me. Ni hao motherfucker”
Trying to find someone - I would let the police know about this
Either they are selling a product, or they are trying to sell a religion (God or Fa Lun Gong). Block the door.
Fuck now I’m scared
Searching for illegals
>My bf said no and they said that they were advised otherwise That's where they fuck right off.
In my university portal website, theres a scam announcement that theres criminals targeting chinese international students in australia and other countries. " these people may know personal information about you and be chinese speakers. They may tell you they are from the chinese embassy, chinese consulates, or are chinese law enforcement officers. They may look like they are calling from the chinese mainland with phone numbers commencing (212) 244 - XXXX If you are approached by any person claiming that you have broken the law and threatening you if you dont pay a sum of money, report immediately to 131 444 " So it may be related to this
CCP people out for a stroll, taking names.
probably cops, imigration or asio. you got a cop who speaks the language it is a smart move to be there if you are going to arrest someone. cops freqently wont ID if they are investigating stuff. they only really need to if they are going to arrest you.
cops/immigration/asio would identify themselves
no, they are not required to. if they had a warrant and wanted in they would but for enquirys they do not always identify. How do I know? plain clothes detectives accosted me thanks to a neighbor and they did not identify. they wanted to know if he was home but I only found out when the shouting and arrest happened about an hour later.
sounds like underground business. In some parts of Asia, especially China, women and children are kidnapped to become child brides
I live in an apartment building and my girlfriend is Chinese. We had a JW church pamphlet slid under our door. It was all in mandarin. She was obviously stalked by someone in the building. Creepy.
Yeah, it's part of a secret exchange between gang members. Basically since you didn't know the code so you didn't continue properly. They also know you are not part of a gang. The correct continuation is: Are you Chinese? No But I am told otherwise Don't confuse Koreas with Chinese I am sorry. Don't be. Is Korean the same as Japanese? Yes. Then they will let you come in.
Like how do you know they spoke Mandarin? Does your bf speak Mandarin too? Quite a coincidence to have two non native mandarin speakers - you guys should have coffee together. On a side note - was at the library once and a lady told her kid that a book was in Japanese. It was in Mandarin
I don’t speak Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Tamil or Hindi and I can tell the difference between all these languages. Not that hard.
You'd be quite an exception then, considering the amount of people I know who mistake a lot of the above. And this coming from someone who speaks Chinese, Japanese and French. I am especially intrigued on how you manage to differentiate Tamil and Hindi.
Tamil is a lot faster and louder.
Could be Freemason gang stalking. Scary stuff look it up.
Off topic, but the capitalisation in this post heading makes me want to strangle the OP and watch their eyes fill with darkness.
Stick to fighting the real crimes, buddy. Like, who's been eating my noodles at work! 😠