Alex Joske grew up in
Beijing as a teenager, and is fluent in
Mandarin Chinese. He attended the
Australian National University, graduating in 2018 with a
Bachelor of Arts in
Chinese language. In September 2016, Joske and fellow student,
cyber-dissident and Chinese expat
Wu Lebao, attended an ANU gala organized by Chinese students. After being reportedly cornered and trailed to a bathroom by organizers from the
Chinese Students and Scholars Association, Lebao and Joske published a 2017 exposé in
Woroni about the association and their experiences with its members at the gala. Later in his university studies, he spent a year at
National Taiwan Normal University studying Chinese. At ASPI, he wrote prolifically on the CCP's
united front work, the
People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the
Ministry of State Security (MSS). His first ASPI report "Picking flowers, making honey", on the PLA's use of research collaboration with foreign universities to advance its
technology transfer efforts and weapons research, catalyzed legislation in the
United States Congress to ban Chinese military researchers from U.S. government-funded laboratories. In September 2020, Joske was banned from entering China. The
Global Times, a CCP mouthpiece, announced his ban – alongside that of Clive Hamilton – without explanation. 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. In May 2022, he joined Australian corporate risk advisory firm, McGrathNicol, as a senior risk advisor. In October 2022, Joske released his first book,
Spies and Lies, detailing Chinese espionage practices, particularly
Chinese intelligence activity abroad. The book attracted attention for its exploration of the MSS' successful cooption of Australian prime minister
Bob Hawke to rehabilitate China's image following the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The book was reviewed in
Foreign Affairs and
The Economist. In 2024, Joske testified as an
expert witness in the trial of
Shujun Wang regarding linkages between the MSS and the
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. == Selected works ==