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China claims Australian journalist endangered security hours after two others fled
China confirmed that an Australian television anchor was being held over suspected state security violations hours after the last two correspondents from the country's media outlets fled, highlighting the mounting political pressures on Beijing's foreign press corps.
Cheng Lei – an Australian citizen employed by China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN before her detention last month – was "suspected of carrying out criminal activities endangering China's national security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Tuesday in Beijing.
Cheng Lei, the Australian anchor for China's government-run English news channel CGTN.Credit: Getty Images
The allegations, which give authorities broad powers to hold suspects for months without charge or access to a lawyer, are among the most serious ever brought against a foreign journalist in China.
Before her detention on August 14, Cheng had hosted business shows as a CGTN anchor since 2012 and was well known among Beijing's small circle of diplomats and journalists. She was previously China correspondent for CNBC, after graduating from the University of Queensland with a bachelor's degree in commerce and serving a stint as an accountant at Cadbury Schweppes, according to her LinkedIn profile.
"This case is being handled according to the law and Cheng's legitimate rights and interests are fully guaranteed," Zhao said. He didn't respond to a question on Tuesday about whether the two journalists had been questioned in relation to Cheng's case.
The revelations from China's Foreign Ministry came shortly after the last two China correspondents for Australian media outlets left the country after questioning from the Ministry of State Security.
The reporters for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Australian Financial Review were only allowed to leave after a five-day standoff at the Australian embassy in Beijing and an Australian government property in Shanghai that ended when they agreed to answer questions under consular protection about Cheng and other matters.
The foreign press corps in Beijing is under pressure as the US and China tie the issue of journalist access to what the Trump administration has cast as a battle for global influence. Even before the latest departures, China had expelled a record 17 correspondents working for American media outlets while a dozen more were put on truncated visa terms.
In recent days, Chinese authorities delayed renewing the press credentials of some journalists working for American media outlets, including Bloomberg News, CNN and the Wall Street Journal. Beijing's move came in response to a Trump administration decision to expel or delay visas for scores of Chinese state media reporters in the US.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said the developments represented an "extraordinary erosion of media freedoms," taking particular issue with China's attempt to bar the two Australian correspondents from leaving.
"Such actions by the Chinese government amount to appalling intimidatory tactics that threaten and seek to curtail the work of foreign journalists based in China, who now face the threat of arbitrary detention for simply doing their work, and difficult circumstances that make it untenable to remain in the country," the FCCC said.
Zhao, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, attempted to play down the threat to journalist access Tuesday, saying the world's second-largest economy would stick "to the basic principle of opening up."
"China always welcomes foreign journalists, including those hired by Chinese media outlets, to work and report in the country," he said.
Bill Birtles, the ABC's Beijing correspondent, and Mike Smith, the AFR's Shanghai correspondent, were the last accredited reporters for Australian media based in mainland China. There are still other Australian citizens working as journalists in China for American, British and other media companies.
Ministry of State Security officers came to their homes after midnight on Wednesday and informed them they were "persons of interest" in an investigation and couldn't leave China, according to Smith. The experience of being surrounded in his home and filmed by police as they read out a statement was "a bit of a shock and quite intimidating," he said.
They were eventually allowed to leave the country after agreeing to an interview with police while under consular protection. Smith said officials asked about Cheng, among other questions, and described the hour-long interview as "pretty benign" and "polite."
"It's clearly political," Smith said Tuesday from Sydney.
"Australia-China relations have really hit rock-bottom, so we're unsure whether they were trying to send a message to Australia, to try and intimidate Australia more."
Bloomberg