Australian journalists evacuated from China after five-day diplomatic standoff

The diplomatic confrontation began when the two men, Bill Birtles, Beijing correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and Mike Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review (AFR), were told that they were “persons of interest in an investigation. ” in Cheng Lei, an Australian presenter for the state broadcaster CGTN, according to the AFR. The Australian government said last week that she had been detained by police in China.

Zhao also confirmed that Birtles and Smith were questioned by authorities about a “case,” but did not respond to journalists’ questions about whether it was related to Cheng.

The ABC added that Birtles, for example, was organizing farewell drinks when police visited his apartment and told him that he was prohibited from leaving the country and that they would call him the next day to question him about a “national security case.” The station did not say what Birtles was questioned about.

Both journalists then sought refuge in Australian diplomatic missions in Beijing and Shanghai, respectively, while Canberra negotiated with Chinese officials to allow them to leave the country. The clash lasted for five days before the travel bans were lifted and they could fly back to Sydney.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that the government “provided consular support to two Australian journalists in China to help them return to Australia.”

Birtles said on ABC on Tuesday that it was “very disappointing to have to leave under those circumstances.”

“It is a relief to be back in a country with a genuine rule of law,” he added. “It was a whirlwind and not a particularly good experience.”

Speaking to CNN Business since the quarantine in Australia, Smith said visits to his apartments and those of Birtles had felt “very political.”

“It was a very tense few days,” he said of the time he spent at the Australian consulate in Shanghai. He added that he and Birtles were allowed to leave China on the condition that the Chinese Ministry of State Security interview them about Cheng Lei.

High tensions

The relationship between Australia and China has deteriorated in recent months after Canberra called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, countries have engaged in tit-for-tat trade restrictions.

For the Australian media industry, the departures of Birtles and Smith are very significant: ABC reports that there are now no more journalists employed by Australian media in mainland China. That hasn’t happened since 1972, when Canberra normalized relations with Beijing.

While there are still some Australian journalists working in China, they are all employed by non-Australian media companies.

Another news outlet, The Australian, said on Tuesday that Canberra had advised it not to send Chinese correspondent Will Glasgow back to the country. Glasgow is currently in Australia, but was scheduled to fly to Guangzhou last Sunday, he said on Twitter.

Bad relationships

Trevor Watson, who was an ABC correspondent in Beijing from 1988 to 1990, told CNN Business that there has been a marked change in the way the Chinese government views Australian journalists.

When Watson was working in the country, including when he covered the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, “it was recognized that ABC and Australian journalists operated independently of their government.”

That has changed dramatically now, he said.

“They really are quite lucky to be out of there,” he said of Birtles and Smith. “Having been a regular visitor to China since 1979, I think it will be a long time before I return.”

Smith told CNN Business that being forced to leave China was “really sad.”

“It is increasingly difficult to be a foreign correspondent in China,” he added. “It’s getting really difficult for people to talk to you. It’s getting more authoritarian. I think it’s getting more risky and this really sets him apart.”

He said that prior to this event, he had largely underestimated any potential risks to Australians in China.

“If they are going to put exit bans on journalists, you don’t know what they are willing to do to a prominent businessman or someone who gets into trouble,” he added.

Journalists in China

And earlier this year, Beijing effectively expelled a dozen journalists from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal after the Trump administration limited the number of Chinese nationals allowed to work in US media offices. state of China.

Since then, Washington has designated a growing number of US offices of China’s state news organizations as “foreign missions,” requiring them to present documents to US authorities regarding their finances and personnel. Beijing has responded by demanding the same from various US outlets in China.

The China Foreign Correspondents Club said that “in the first half of 2020 alone, China expelled a record 17 foreign journalists by canceling press credentials.”

“At least 12 other foreign correspondents in China have received punitive, truncated-term visas, sometimes for as little as one month, instead of standard one-year visas,” the organization added. “This is in addition to the increase in harassment and surveillance of foreign journalists, including physical attacks and cyber attacks.”