Mr. Chen, a long-time Chinese diplomat in Sydney, claims to have information on up to 1,000 Chinese secret agents in Australia, many of them involved in spying on Falun Gong activists and local Chinese community groups. He also alleges that Beijing was involved in three abductions, including the kidnapping and return to China of the son of a fugitive Chinese official. His charges were supported at a press conference in Melbourne Wednesday by Hao Fengjun, a second defecting Chinese official, who worked as a police intelligence analyst. Mr. Hao says he has copies of intelligence reports sent back to China from Australia about the activities of the Falun Gong and other groups distrusted by the Beijing government.

Yet, 10 days after Mr. Chen first sought to defect, the Australian government has made no attempt to interview either him or Mr. Hao about these explosive charges. Of course, defectors have been known to exaggerate and their claims remain unproven for now. But rather than welcome the opportunity to investigate them, and possibly uncover a valuable source of information about Chinese espionage activities, the Howard government appears to be more concerned about avoiding embarrassing Beijing.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer initially discouraged Mr. Chen from applying for political asylum. He also warned the fugitive diplomat to keep quiet while his subsequent request for a protection visa, a more low-profile way of allowing him to stay in the country, is being considered. Australia’s Labor opposition has been little better, initially trying to avoid the issue and only belatedly issuing a highly qualified call for Mr. Chen to be allowed to stay Wednesday.

Whatever the accuracy of Mr. Chen’s claims, there’s no doubt he would pay a heavy price if he were sent back to China. So the reluctance of politicians on both sides of the political spectrum to quickly and unequivocally say he should stay, let alone the failure to seriously investigate his charges, sends a troubling message about how far a reluctance to offend Asia’s rising power appears to be influencing policy down under.

There’s no disputing Beijing’s growing economic importance. China is now Australia’s second-largest export market, and Beijing has not hesitated to use its clout — dropping hints that economic ties may be impaired if Australia is seen as siding with the U.S. over Taiwan. Such threats seemed to yield results last year when Mr. Downer unexpectedly suggested in Beijing that, in contrast to its steadfastness on other issues, Australia couldn’t necessarily be expected to come to America’s support in the event of a cross-Strait conflict.

Like much of the rest of the world, Canberra is scrambling to come to terms with the challenges posed by the rise of China. Given its geographical position on the periphery of Asia, Australia feels these challenges particularly intently. Hence the current excitement in Canberra about negotiations over a free-trade agreement, which the Howard government has been quick to insist would not be affected by the current spy scandal.

But such economic interests should never be allowed to take priority over Australia’s own national security. Mr. Chen deserves better treatment than he has received so far and it is in Australia’s best interests to take his spying charges more seriously.