The Australian government has refused to reveal how many Chinese nationals have arrived in Australia by boat since 2024, saying that disclosing the figure may harm relations with other countries.
However, reports by Indonesian police show that there has been a consistent trend of Chinese nationals attempting to reach Australia through Indonesia as an alternative to “zouxian”, or “walking the line” – the illegal migration route from Mexico to the US through the Darian Gap.
That route became popular among Chinese nationals in 2021, driven by China’s tightening political control and economic slowdown. In 2023, more than 37,000 Chinese nationals were arrested on the southern border.
A crackdown on that route under both the Biden and Trump administrations has pushed many Chinese nationals to turn to countries such as Australia. Media reports from January 2024 to December 2025 show that at least three boats that carried Chinese nationals reached Australia.
Guardian Australia lodged a freedom-of-information request with the Department of Home Affairs for the number of Chinese nationals who arrived by boat and were intercepted or taken to detention centres since January 2024.
In a letter sent to Guardian Australia in December, the department refused the request, saying that revealing the figure could compromise the Australian Border Force’s operational functions and damage bilateral relationships.
“I consider that revealing whether Chinese nationals arriving by boat have been intercepted, have been taken to onshore or offshore detention centres or been deported back to China could reasonably be expected to damage Australia’s relations with foreign governments,” a departmental official wrote.
“Maintaining strong bilateral and multilateral relationships with foreign governments requires trust. Integral to maintaining trusted relationships is the capacity for the Australian governments to protect its communications with foreign governments, including by maintaining confidentiality over the flow of information.
“A decision on the part of the Department to reveal this information would likely cause the governments of other countries to become less willing to cooperate with, or provide information to the Australian Government or its agencies in the future.”
Guardian Australia has requested a review of the decision.
Meanwhile, Indonesian police in the southernmost province of East Nusa Tenggara allege a growing number of attempts by Chinese nationals to organise boat journeys to Australia.
In mid 2025, the East Nusa Tenggara police revealed they arrested four Chinese nationals allegedly trying to reach Australia by boat in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.
They alleged the four suspects entered Indonesia in May 2025 and bought a speedboat for US$3,500 in Kupang. The report also said the group made their first attempt in June 2025, but the boat was stranded on a beach. The group then tried to seek help from a local fisher, who alerted police.
In January 2026, East Nusa Tenggara police received information that three Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in Kupang attempted to organise a voyage to Australia. The police then found the three nationals in Oliana Beach with a boat, alleging they tried to depart illegally for Australia.
On 24 February, police in Rote Ndao – a regency of East Nusa Tenggara – discovered a boat that carried seven foreign nationals on Masidae Beach, with four of them being Chinese nationals.
Rote Ndao police later revealed that these seven people allegedly took the boat from Indonesia to Australia on 11 February, and reached Australian waters on 19 February. However, the boat was intercepted by Australian authorities and pushed back to Indonesian waters before it was discovered by Indonesian authorities, said Rote Ndao police.
After the incident, Rote Ndao police met with the deputy consulate general of China in Indonesia, Zhu Yu, to discuss “the recurrence of people smuggling involving Chinese citizens”.
Authorities said the visit aimed to prevent Chinese citizens falling victim to people smuggling networks offering to reach Australia illegally through Indonesian waters.
Guardian Australia has contacted the Chinese embassy in Indonesia for comment.
Outside East Nusa Tenggara, the Indonesian immigration office in West Jakarta also shut down a people-smuggling syndicate on 12 January, arresting two Chinese nationals and one Thai citizen.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, the West Jakarta immigration office said the syndicate falsified Indonesian civil identity documents for Chinese national victims to use.
The immigration office also said the syndicate charged about $12,500 per person for the trip to Australia.
