China hits back at 'foreign interference' claims after Morrison account blocked

The Chinese government has dismissed claims by an Australian politician that the ruling Communist Party was behind the blocking of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's WeChat account.

Mr Morrison's WeChat account, which has 76,000 followers, was blocked and rebranded with pro-Communist Party messaging.

Liberal Senator James Paterson, Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence, likened the incident to "foreign interference".

READ MORE: US puts 8500 troops on alert amid Russia-Ukraine tensions

Mr Morrison's account was blocked and renamed 'Australian Chinese new life' and its description changed to "provide life information for overseas Chinese in Australia".

WeChat is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, but the social media tool is regularly monitored and censored by the ruling Communist Party.

"What the Chinese government has done is effectively foreign interference in our democracy and in an election year," Mr Patterson said.

But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has described Mr Paterson's remarks as "unfounded denigration and smear" in a regular media briefing in Beijing.

He also insisted China has no interest in interfering in other countries.

Tencent said an "ownership issue" was behind the blocking and rebranding of Mr Morrison's account, rather than hacking.

READ MORE: Aboriginal flag 'freed' for public use in $20m government deal

"There is no evidence of any hacking or third-party intrusion. Based on our information, this appears to be a dispute over account ownership," the company said in a statement.

"The account in question was originally registered by a PRC (People's Republic of China) individual and was subsequently transferred to its current operator, a technology services company — and it will be handled in accordance with our platform rules."

Tencent said it would continue investigating the incident, and was committed to upholding the security of all WeChat accounts.