During those long days sheltering in Australian diplomatic missions in China last week, the ABC’s China correspondent Bill Birtles and myself would hypothesise about what might have triggered Beijing’s decision to send security police to our homes in the middle of the night.

One theory tossed around was that the Morrison government had, or was planning to, take action against Chinese journalists in Australia. The idea made sense as China notoriously engages in tit-for-tat action when sparring with foreign powers.