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Two Australian journalists left China from Monday to Tuesday evening, fearing arrest, the two media organizations working for them announced.
ABC TV said its Beijing correspondent Bill Bertels and Australian Financial Review Shanghai correspondent Michael Smith, who had taken refuge several days ago in their country’s diplomatic missions in China, left China accompanied by Australian diplomats and arrived , Tuesday morning, to Sydney.
The journalists’ decision to leave China came hastily after Chinese authorities arrested Australian Cheng Li, an economic journalist working for “CGTN”, last August. The Chinese state-owned English television channel. The detention of this Australian citizen for reasons not disclosed by the Chinese authorities caused great tension in relations between Beijing and Canberra.
It is nice to be home, but it is deeply disappointing to leave China under such abrupt circumstances. It’s been a big part of my life and last week it was surreal. A big thank you to ABC, friends, colleagues, and everyone involved at DFAT. Plus @MikeSmithAFR for sharing the journey. pic.twitter.com/zkJEV4Oa27
– Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) September 8, 2020
According to ABC, the Australian Foreign Ministry advised its correspondent Bill Bertels last week to leave China, something he intended to do on Thursday, but before leaving China, seven Chinese policemen arrived at his home at midnight and told him. they reported that he would be questioned. On “a matter related to national security” and therefore he is not allowed to travel.
And as a result, the journalist took refuge in his country’s embassy in Beijing. He was subsequently questioned by the Chinese police in the presence of Australian diplomats and allowed to leave the country.
In turn, “Australian Financial Review” said that the police visited their correspondent Michael Smith at his home that same night, in a measure considered by the newspaper as pressure from Beijing on Australian journalists. For the case of his professional colleague, who was arrested in August.
Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated considerably over the past two years.
An hour of consecutive live crossovers invariably means the boys in blue will show up. It’s a nuisance to them, it’s a little nuisance to us, they check our press cards, they take our numbers and IDs, they check their walkie talkies and then they say ‘没事儿’ to us, and they leave. #Beijing pic.twitter.com/W34brZ4jAG
– Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) June 19, 2020
In turn, the United States accused China on Tuesday of “threatening” and “harassing” foreign journalists after it refused to renew the press credentials of several US media employees.
Opposing countries have imposed restrictions on the granting of visas to media professionals, as China expelled journalists amid tensions over issues ranging from trade to technology, the Hong Kong dossier and the new Corona virus. .
In a statement issued by the Washington embassy in Beijing, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Morgan Ortagus, said that China’s record of “threatening, harassing and expelling US and foreign journalists goes back decades.” He explained that the Chinese Foreign Ministry recently informed the Washington embassy in Beijing about the new restrictions on foreign journalists “denying them the renewal of their press cards and refusing to process visa applications for journalists who were expelled. At the beginning of the year. “
On Monday, the China Foreign Correspondents Club confirmed the matter, saying that five journalists from four media groups, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Bloomberg, had been banned from issuing new press cards.
More people are expected to be subjected to the same restrictions in the coming weeks, which will intensify pressure on foreign media groups that have already reduced their activities in the country.
The US State Department spokeswoman said her country is “working tirelessly” to persuade China to allow US journalists to return to the country.
A record number of 17 foreign journalists were expelled from China in the first half of 2020, according to the Reporters Club.
Generally, foreign journalists are not allowed to work in China without valid press cards, which is also a requirement to obtain residency. Instead, the club explained, journalists would receive a letter allowing them to work temporarily with their expired press cards, which “can be withdrawn at any time.”
In turn, China indicates that its steps are merely a reflection of the restrictions imposed on Chinese journalists in the United States, since the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed a limited term of 90 days for Chinese correspondent visas.
(Brush from France)
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