China’s state media reports intelligence officials raided the residences of Australian-based Chinese journalists in late June amid increased tension between trading partners.
The Global Times reported that the journalists were questioned and their computers and phones seized, citing an unidentified source close to the matter. The Xinhua News Agency published a similar article, while the China News Service said that the homes of four journalists from three Chinese media outlets were raided by Australian police on June 26, who finally found they did nothing wrong. .
A request for comment on the reports to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was not immediately returned.
The reports come after China confirmed that Cheng Lei, an Australian television host, was in custody for alleged breaches of state security hours after the country’s last two media correspondents fled the country. Australia was informed in mid-August that she had been arrested.
While those issues highlight growing political pressures on foreign press corps operating in China, they also underscore the frayed ties between Beijing and Canberra after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called in April for independent investigators to be allowed into Wuhan. to investigate the origins of the coronavirus.
Australia has been embroiled in a fight over a series of diplomatic moves that China has interpreted as supporting the United States in the growing trade and security dispute between Beijing and Washington. The media is just the latest sector to be caught up in the fight, after China slowed down or launched trade actions against imports of Australian beef, wine and barley.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization raided his home and office on June 26, the same day the raids on Chinese media allegedly occurred. New South Wales state legislator Shaoquett Moselmane later said the investigation was related to people allegedly promoting the Chinese government’s goals and denied being a suspect.
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