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BEIJING / SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Chinese government on Wednesday accused Australia of “blatant irrational behavior”, harassment and violation of the rights of its journalists by searching and confiscating articles from the homes of four Chinese state media journalists.
Relations between the two major trading partners have become increasingly strained, and Beijing’s revelation that Australia had carried out the raids in late June came when a well-known Chinese academic confirmed that his Australian visa had been canceled on the grounds of security.
A day earlier, two Australian journalists flew home from China with the help of consular officials, after being questioned by China’s Ministry of State Security and initially prevented from leaving the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Australian officials cited a possible violation of the country’s foreign interference laws for their raids in June, but did not provide a “reasonable explanation”.
“The behavior of the Australian government … openly violates the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists there and caused serious damage to the physical and mental health of journalists and their families,” Zhao said in a daily briefing. “We call on Australia to immediately stop such blatant irrational behavior, to stop harassing and oppressing Chinese personnel in Australia under any pretext.”
Zhao said officials confiscated laptops, cell phones and a children’s toy tablet from the homes of reporters from media such as the state news agency Xinhua and the China News Service.
A spokesman for Australia’s attorney general, Christian Porter, had previously declined to comment on “operational matters”, in response to a Xinhua report on the raids, but added that authorities “take matters of foreign interference very seriously. “.
Australia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) also declined to comment.
The Chinese embassy in Canberra said it had provided consular support to journalists targeted in the raids.
Australia’s already strained relationship with China worsened this year after Beijing promised trade retaliation and said it was angered by Australia’s call for an international investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
The two Australian journalists who came home from China on Tuesday sought refuge in the embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Shanghai after police entered their homes a week ago and told them they were prohibited from leaving China.
They had been questioned in the case of Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist for Chinese state television who was arrested in China three weeks ago. Chinese officials confirmed Tuesday that she was being held on suspicion of illegal activities that endanger China’s security.
AFP PROBE
The Xinhua report also criticized a search at the home and office of New South Wales state politician Shaoquett Moselmane on June 26, claiming he was targeted after praising China’s achievements in fighting the coronavirus and criticizing Australia’s policy towards China.
Documents filed in Australia’s High Court on August 3 show that a Moselmane staff member, John Zhang, is under investigation by the Australian Federal Police for allegedly acting on behalf of the Chinese state in “a private chat group in the social networks “with Moselmane.
Moselmane has said he is not a suspect in the investigation, telling Australian Broadcasting Corp television last month that he was involved in “just one social group,” including “a couple of journalists, foreign journalists and one John Zhang.”
Another member of the chat group, Chinese academic Chen Hong, said that his Australian visa had been canceled for security reasons based on ASIO’s advice.
Chen, a professor of Australian Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said in a statement that he had traveled frequently to Australia and believed the cancellation was a “serious mistake”.
Chen said he was friends with Zhang since 2016 and they met when he was in Sydney or Zhang was in Shanghai.
Zhang has not been charged with any crime and his lawyers are seeking to have the search warrants vacated, according to court documents.
(Reported by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; edited by Jane Wardell and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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