Ashley Tellis: Accused Chinese spy arrested in US had extensive links in Australia

The Defence and Foreign Affairs departments are refusing to say if a well-connected US strategic analyst accused of spying for China in Washington was ever given classified briefings during his many visits to Australia.

Ashley Tellis, 64, who served on the National Security Council of former Republican President George W. Bush and is listed in court papers as an unpaid adviser to the State Department and a Pentagon contractor, was detained over the weekend.

His arrest on espionage charges has caused shockwaves across Canberra, particularly in the defence research and think tanks community where he has previously interacted professionally with figures such as Office of National Intelligence boss Andrew Shearer.

As far back as a decade ago, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who now serves as Australia’s ambassador to Washington, also hosted Mr Tellis as part of an Asia Society Policy Institute panel discussion about India held in New York.

Former Pentagon official Abraham Denmark, who helped devise the AUKUS partnership with Australia, also collaborated with Mr Tellis in 2014 on a research paper titled “The US-Australia alliance: a deepening partnership in emerging Asia”.

According to an FBI affidavit, the leading expert on US-India relations is now accused of unlawful retention of national defence information, including over a thousand pages of top secret and secret documents at his home.

The FBI affidavit states that in September and October this year Mr Tellis entered US Defence and State Department buildings and was observed accessing and printing classified documents, including on military aircraft capabilities, and leaving by car with a leather briefcase or bag.

The FBI also says that Mr Tellis met Chinese government officials many times in recent years including one meeting in September 2022 at a restaurant in Virginia, where he is said to have arrived with a manila envelope but did not appear to have it when he left.

A Justice Department statement said that if convicted, Mr Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $US250,000.

“We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic,” said Lindsey Halligan, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens.”

Mr Tellis, who is also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has not commented on the charges and his lawyer Deborah Curtis told Associated Press that “we look forward to the hearing, where we’ll be able to present evidence”.

Carnegie, a Washington based think tank, lists Mr Tellis as its Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and its website says he has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Mumbai in India, as well as a PhD and master’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in the US.

As recently as 2023, Mr Tellis was photographed outside Australian Defence Department headquarters in Canberra as part of a visiting delegation from another US think tank, the National Bureau of Asian Research.

In 2012 former Lowy Institute senior fellow, and now Office of National Intelligence boss Andrew Shearer, publicly acknowledged Tellis’ in an academic paper titled “Defining US Indian Ocean Strategy”.

National security figures in Australia who have known Mr Tellis for decades say the highly regarded expert was a frequent visitor to this country and considered a leading “China hawk”, who advocated for stronger alliances to push back against Beijing.

Members of various Australian based think-tanks have described their associate as widely trusted and well regarded, intellectually brilliant and prolific and a respected scholar and gracious person.

“I would guess he has travelled to Australia at least half a dozen times in recent years,” one leading foreign policy academic tells The Nightly.

“Like everyone in Canberra who dealt with him, I’m still in shock at this news. I knew Ashley Tellis well – well at least I thought I did”.

“In the think tank world, he was considered a leading voice on improving relations between Washington and New Delhi, so the suggestion he’s now been compromised is shocking.

“Initially I thought that this could be part of a President Trump effort to hit back at the so-called ‘deep state’, but when I look at the specific allegations in the FBI documents it looks very serious”.

Another defence figure has noted that many leading Australian strategic writers and experts have worked closely with Mr Tellis and contributed to academic work which he’s produced over recent years.

While those in Australia who know Mr Tellis are reluctant to speak about him on the record, internationally other close associates of the US analyst are adamant their colleague is innocent.

“Ashley Tellis may have been careless with classified documents (though less than the current US President) but meeting with Chinse officials is part of his f...ing job,” says Bruno Tertrais, deputy director of France’s independent think-tank, the Foundation for Strategic Research.

“Also, to the best of my knowledge he is not a Department of State employee”, he declares in defence of his “good friend”.

The Nightly has asked the Australian Defence Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade whether the American security expert has ever received classified briefings while in this country, but both have declined to comment.