Midnight knocks in China signal new era of bullying

Our nation’s bilateral relationship with China has deteriorated to a disturbing new low, prompting the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to judge it no longer safe for Australian journalists to work from Australia’s largest trading partner. Distinguished Australian correspondents have done so successfully to the benefit of both nations since the establishment of diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s. As a result of the latest move, China’s government and justice system, already opaque, will now be even more so until the Chinese indicate they are willing to open up again, if they do in the foreseeable future.

Exacerbating tensions would be futile and dangerous. These are running high against the background of China’s crackdown in Hong Kong, its expansion in the South China Sea, the push to intimidate Taiwan, cyber security attacks and soft power incursions into other nations. From Australia’s perspective, the Morrison government was right to stand its ground in calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus. Scott Morrison also has shown good judgment by moving to take control of deals with foreign powers by Australian universities and lower tiers of government. But these stances have angered China, prompting penalties on Australian exports.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying failed to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear last week when she claimed her country did its best to make all foreign journalists’ lives and work in China “as convenient as possible”. Its “best” included intimidating recent late-night visits to the homes of the ABC’s Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith. Birtles, who was hosting farewell drinks with friends and colleagues, recounted on Tuesday after he and Smith arrived in Sydney that the officials told him he was banned from leaving the country and would be questioned over a “national security case”. Birtles stayed for four days in Australia’s embassy in Beijing while Smith took refuge in Australia’s Shanghai consulate as diplomats negotiated their safe passages.

Chinese police were reportedly within hours of arresting the journalists before they sought protection in the Australian missions. That prospect would be dire. The cruel, torturous treatment meted out to Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun, who has been held in China since January last year, exemplifies what detainees can face. Yang has been charged with espionage under China’s legal and security structure.

Before flying out, Birtles and Smith were interviewed separately by China’s Ministry of State Security. Their plight was connected with the case of Beijing-based Australian journalist Cheng Lei, a popular television host on a state-controlled television network. She has been detained for “endangering China’s national security”.

The evacuation of Birtles and Smith, the last two journalists reporting full time for Australian media in China, reflects two serious problems. These are, first, the breakdown in trust in the Australia-China relationship and, second, rising concerns about the arbitrary detention of Australian citizens in China. DFAT’s Smart Traveller advisory makes it clear: “If you’re already in China, and wish to return to Australia, we recommend you do so as soon as possible by commercial means. Authorities have detained foreigners because they’re ‘endangering national security’. Australians may also be at risk of arbitrary detention.” That prospect is bad for the strong commercial relationships between Australian and Chinese companies. PwC Australia’s Asia practice leader Andrew Parker says the business community in China is asking: “Are we actually safe here now? And the question has come up in the context of Hong Kong as well.”

China’s dramatic moves are not new. In March, it ordered reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to get out. Indonesia, during the Suharto era, expelled Australian media. Five journalists were shot dead in the East Timorese border town of Balibo during the build-up to the Indonesian invasion in 1975. Part of the problem with China is that President Xi Jinping and his regime are clueless about the workings of a free press. As former China correspondent Rowan Callick writes, Mr Xi has told Chinese journalists: “Your name is Party … Wherever the readers are, wherever the viewers are, that is where propaganda reports must extend their tentacles.” In a telling statement on Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said foreign journalists in China were expected to “report according to law’’.

Foreign editor Greg Sheridan, who was The Australian’s first China correspondent in 1985, describes the current sequence of events in China as “unprecedented, bizarre, ominous and a pointer to an immediate future which is likely to become more fraught and more dangerous”. And it almost certainly indicates a further shift towards the practice of naked, brutal hostage diplomacy by Beijing.

The Morrison government faces a tough balancing act. Its priority must be a firm, quiet defence of Australia’s sovereignty and national interest. It also needs to turn down the heat in what is now a “barely functioning relationship”, as Sheridan writes, with Chinese ministers still refusing to speak to their Australian counterparts. The challenge over time will be to dampen the sense of crisis and seek whatever avenues might be available to resume effective dialogue.