{"id":1473,"date":"2020-09-09T00:10:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T00:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessner.com\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2022-04-27T09:50:30","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T09:50:30","slug":"china-australian-journalist-detained-due-to-national-security-grounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessner.com\/china-australian-journalist-detained-due-to-national-security-grounds\/","title":{"rendered":"China: Australian Journalist Detained due to \u2018National Security’ Grounds"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Chinese official recently confirmed that prominent Australian news anchor Cheng Lei is facing an investigation based on \u201cnational security grounds\u201d and was placed under residential surveillance in a still undisclosed location.<\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Monday said the government has taken \u201ccompulsory measures\u201d and detained Cheng Lei based on alleged criminal activity endangering China\u2019s national security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheng Lei, the veteran news presenter at the state-run English broadcaster China Global Television Network, has not been seen for weeks and suddenly disappeared from her regular shows as well as ceased to make contact with friends and family.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old broadcaster\u2019s company profile and interviews were also wiped from state-run CGTN’s website.<\/p>\n
On August 31, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said they were informed that the Australian citizen, Ms. Cheng has been detained in China but has not disclosed on which charge the prominent journalist has been arrested.<\/p>\n
In a statement<\/a>, Payne said formal notification was received on August 14 from the Chinese authorities of her detention.<\/p>\n Australian officials said they had an initial consular visit with Cheng at a detention facility via video link on August 27 and will continue to provide assistance and support to her and her family.<\/p>\n The arrest of the female broadcaster has raised an alarm among foreign journalists amidst growing diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra as the Australian government launches a probe into China\u2019s alleged involvement in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, two Australian journalists were pulled out by their media companies from China after they were called for questioning by Beijing authorities amid heightened tensions between the two countries.<\/p>\n Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Mike Smith landed safely in Sydney on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The ABC reported that Birtles was hosting farewell drinks when the police visited his apartment and told him he was banned from leaving the country. Birtles was also told he would be called in the following day for questioning over a “national security case.” ABC did not further disclose what Birtles was questioned about but journalists said it is related to the current investigations of detained broadcaster Cheng Lei.<\/p>\n Both journalists sought refuge in Australian diplomatic missions and the consular office in Beijing and Shanghai as Australian government officials negotiated with Chinese officials to allow them to leave the country. The standoff lasted five days before the travel bans were lifted and the journalists were able to fly back to Sydney.<\/p>\n Australian foreign affairs minister Payne said in a statement<\/a> that the government “provided consular support to two Australian journalists in China to assist their return to Australia.”<\/p>\n Payne said the Australian Embassy in Beijing and Consulate-General in Shanghai engaged with Chinese government authorities to ensure the wellbeing and return of the two journalists to Australia.<\/p>\n The Australian Foreign Ministry said their current travel advice for China, which was updated on July 7, remains appropriate and unchanged.<\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage all Australians who are overseas, or are seeking to travel, to closely monitor Smartraveller,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She also said the Australian Government continues to provide consular support to Australian citizens detained in China, including Cheng Lei but said they \u201care unable to provide further comment owing to privacy obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n Birtles told ABC on Tuesday that it is \u201ca relief to be back in a country with genuine rule of law.”<\/p>\n Smith, meanwhile, said that the visits by Chinese authorities to his and Birtles’ apartments felt “very political.”<\/p>\n “It was a very tense few days,” Smith said of his time spent within the Australian consulate in Shanghai. He added that he and Birtles were allowed to leave China on the condition that they allowed themselves to be interviewed by China’s Ministry of State Security about Cheng Lei.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Several media outlets including the New York Times and CNN reported that the US State Department alleges that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had recently told the US Embassy in Beijing that it was denying press card renewals to US journalists in China.<\/p>\n But Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian in Monday\u2019s press briefing<\/a> Zhao Lijian denied it was denying press card renewals to American journalists saying there \u201chas no truth in it at all and is meant to confound the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Australian journalists were flown out of China<\/h2>\n
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China tightens entry of foreign journalists<\/h2>\n