Australian journalists leave China amid diplomatic spat

Bill Birtles with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith arrived in Sydney Monday night after Chinese officials temporarily blocked their departure and questioned them. Police officers visited their homes in Beijing and Shanghai respectively last week to inform them they were both persons of interest in the investigation of Cheng Lei, a detained Australian citizen who worked as a news anchor for China’s English state media, CGTN. The journalists sought refuge in diplomatic compounds and later agreed to a brief interview in exchange for their freedom.

Why the crackdown? The Chinese government has targeted foreign journalists as its diplomatic ties with Western countries worsens. Australia outlawed foreign interference in its politics, banned Chinese telecom company Huawei from supplying critical infrastructure, and called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak. In response, Beijing started a trade war with Australia. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said the country expelled 17 foreign journalists in the first six months of this year.

Dig deeper: Read June Cheng’s analysis of increasing friction between the United States and China.