China-Australia dispute escalates after ‘tit for tat’ investigations

Australia vs China. Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

CANBERRA, Sep 9, 2020, The Age. Beijing’s decision to to force two Australian journalists to leave China came after counterespionage agency ASIO questioned at least one Chinese journalist in Australia and the visas of two prominent academics were cancelled, The Age reported.

The Morrison government is looking to avoid a dangerous game of “tit-for-tat” after Chinese state media accused Australia of “hypocrisy” for expressing concern over the last two accredited Australian journalists being forced out of China.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly claimed the reason for their questioning of ABC journalist Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review Mike Smith was due to their involvement in the case of Australian-TV anchor Cheng Lei, who is being detained under national security laws in Beijing.

The Chinese Communist Party’s international state media mouthpiece, Xinhua, then published a report on Tuesday night claiming an Australian intelligence agency recently raided the residences of Chinese journalists in Australia, questioned them and seized their computers and smartphones.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Wednesday confirmed ASIO did question at least one Chinese journalist in connection to its probe involving the office of suspended NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.

Chinese media organisations including Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group, and China News Service had been raided by Australian authorities.

The ministry said the raids “fully exposed” Australia’s hypocrisy over freedom of the press and respect for human rights and accused the Australian government of harassing Chinese personnel.

“The Chinese side has learned from relevant news agencies that in late June this year, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, on the grounds of possible violations of Australia’s Anti-Foreign Interference Law, carried out raid and questioning to 4 journalists…seized work computers, mobile phones, and even children’s tablets and electronic toys used by reporter’s children,” spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

“Chinese media reporters strictly abide by local laws and regulations, conduct interviews and reports by upholding the principles of objectivity and fairness. Their work has been widely praised by all parties.”

ASIO did not detain any journalists and no threats of travel bans were made, according to senior security sources.

The interview occurred on June 26, the same day the Australian Federal Police and ASIO raided NSW Parliament and Mr Moselmane’s office and residence over an alleged plot by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate Australian politics through his former part-time staffer John Zhang.

Mr Moselmane and Mr Zhang have denied any wrongdoing, and the former part-time staffer is challenging the investigation in the High Court. No charges have been laid.

The Australia bureau chief of China News Service, Tao Shelan, and the China Radio International’s Sydney bureau chief Li Dayong have been drawn into the probe because they were members of a WeChat group with Mr Moselmane and Mr Zhang, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The ABC also revealed on Wednesday that prominent Chinese scholar and media commentator, Professor Chen Hong, and Australian studies scholar, Li Jianjun, were also members of the WeChat group.

The two prominent scholars recently received letters from the Home Affairs Department, advising their Australian visas were being cancelled due to advice from ASIO of risks to national security. Professor Chen told the ABC he denied any wrongdoing.

High-profile Australian journalist Cheng Lei was detained in Beijing on suspicion of putting China’s national security at risk, the country’s foreign ministry says.

A Western Sydney University spokeswoman said the decision to cancel Mr Li Jianjun’s student visa was a matter for the Australian government. “He has an impressive track record as an Australian studies scholar in China,” the spokesman said.

Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, said Australia was right to avoid the extremes of the United States government, which has been tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists in response to the treatment of American journalists in China.

But he said the Australian government should consider establishing a definition of “working journalism”.

“We need to strike balance between respecting free activities of genuine journalists and the extreme of treating authoritarian state media as extensions of security or intelligence work,” Professor Medcalf said.

Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said Australia was “very much in a tit-for-tat situation”, but China was engaging in false equivalence.

“Here we have an independent legal process which operates separately from the government. In China, by contrast, the police and legal system operate entirely at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party,” Mr Jennings said.

“The CCP is looking for levers to continue to apply this sort of coercive pressure on Australia.”

Speaking in general terms, Mr Jennings said it’s “very widely held that Chinese journalists are actually used by Chinese intelligence services as a sort of an adjunct assistance to what they do”, but it would not come as shock to Australian security agencies.

Birtles and Smith, the China correspondents for the ABC and The Australian Financial Review, were forced to board a flight to Sydney on Monday night after spending five days under protection in Australian diplomatic missions.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the case “has been very concerning, and I’m just pleased they are back home now”.

Mr Dutton said China was an important trading partner, but Australia would stand up for its values and continue to counter the threat of foreign interference.

“We are not going to comprise on the fundamental beliefs that we hold near and dear. We do believe there should be an adherence to the rule of law,” he told radio station 4BC.

China’s foreign affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian on Tuesday night said Chinese authorities questioned Mr Birtles and Mr Smith “in accordance with law”.

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