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BEIJING: China said on Tuesday (September 8) that it had detained a high-profile Australian journalist working for its state media for “national security reasons.”
Cheng Lei’s arrest was a further blow to the deterioration of relations between the two countries that have seen China warn its citizens to travel to Australia and vice versa.
In the first comments about CGTN presenter Cheng Lei since August 14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said authorities took “mandatory action” against her on suspicion “of criminal activity that puts in endangers China’s national security. “
“The case is still under investigation in accordance with the law,” Zhao said, adding that his “legal rights and interests are receiving full legal protection.”
He did not elaborate on the accusations against him.
Cheng, who conducted interviews with international CEOs for CGTN’s Global Business and BizTalk programs, has not been seen in public since her arrest, although Australian diplomats in Beijing were able to speak with her on August 27.
Two other Australian reporters, Bill Birtles and Michael Smith, fled China overnight, saying they also feared arrest.
READ: Two Australian journalists rushed out of China for fear of arrest
“As long as foreign journalists obey the law … they have no reason to worry,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said after claiming that authorities had investigated the Australian couple as part of an unspecified case.
The Australian Financial Review, Smith’s employer, reported that both journalists had been told that they “were persons of interest in an investigation into Ms. Cheng.”
Cheng is the second high-profile Australian citizen to be detained in Beijing after writer Yang Hengjun was arrested in January 2019 on suspicion of espionage.
Earlier this year, Australia warned its citizens that they faced the risk of arbitrary detention if they traveled to China.
