Australian journalists Michael Smith and Bill Birtles flee China

Relations with China hit the lowest point since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre after two journalists fled and a third was detained.

Cheng Lei is ‘suspected of carrying out illegal activities endangering China’s national security’.

Australia-China relations have been plunged into their worst ­crisis since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre after two Australian journalists fled to safety under ­diplomatic protection and ­Australian broadcaster Cheng Lei, who works for the state-owned China Global Television Network, was detained.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday Cheng was “suspected of carrying out illegal activities endangering China’s national security”, an amorphous and wide-ranging charge that can include virtually any action Beijing disapproves of.

In dramatic scenes, Australian journalists Michael Smith from The Australian Financial Review and Bill Birtles from the ABC sheltered in diplomatic compounds in Beijing and Shanghai for four days while diplomats negotiated their exit from the country.

The Department of Foreign ­Affairs and Trade had become ­increasingly concerned for their welfare after Cheng was detained for no clear reason and amid a worsening atmosphere of reprisals and punishment in the Beijing-Canberra relationship.

There is every chance now of further trade actions by Beijing against Australia.

Smith and Birtles were told by Chinese security forces that they were not allowed to leave China but should present themselves for interview by the state security agency. Instead they were picked up by Australian diplomatic vehicles and given shelter.

The latest intimidation of Australian nationals follows a long series of trade punishments and diplomatic snubs enacted by Beijing against Canberra.

Trade actions have hit Australian beef, barley and wine exports, and Beijing has advised Chinese students not to come to Australia. Beijing is furious at Canberra for proposing an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as foreign interference legislation and proposed foreign relations bills.

There is widespread fear that the actions against Smith and Britles signal a further move by Beijing towards hostage diplomacy. This would potentially make any high-profile Australians vulnerable.

The Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith, left, and the ABC’s Bill Birtles.

The Australian’s Beijing correspondent, Will Glasgow, was in Australia at the time of the latest incident and was advised by DFAT not to return to Beijing. In early July Canberra changed the official travel advice to warn Australians of the dangers of “arbitrary detention” if they visited China.

In light of the latest developments, Australians in China are reconsidering whether it’s safe to remain there.

Birtles and Smith were evacuated as police and authorities moved to detain them over alleged connections to the Cheng Lei case.

A midnight visit from Chinese police last week “felt very, very political”, Birtles told the ABC, prompting him to seek refuge at the Australian embassy. Smith took refuge in Australia’s Shanghai consulate. It is understood Chinese police were within hours of arresting them before they sought protection in the missions.

The journalists, who arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, were questioned separately by China’s Ministry of State Security before being granted exit ­permits.

PwC Asia practice leader Andrew Parker said it was “a pretty serious escalation” in the personal security situation for Australians in China. “Now I think there are starting to be questions asked in the broader business population and what you might consider to be seemingly innocuous industries about ‘are we actually safe here now?’” Mr Parker said. “And the question has come up in the context of Hong Kong as well.”

Elders chief executive Mark Allison said the departure of the journalists could “not be positive for the Australia-China trade relationship”. He said the move by Chinese public security forces to question Australian journalists appeared to be designed to send a message to Australia, that Beijing was “killing the chicken to scare the monkey”.

Former Australia China Business Council chief executive Helen Sawczak said there was now “significant business risk” for Australian companies doing business in China.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged Australian citizens in China to heed current travel advice, warning Australians were “at risk of arbitrary detention”. She said the government took “appropriate precautions” in getting Birtles and Smith out of the country. “We felt it was best that they be able to stay with Australian officials in Australian premises while a number of these matters were addressed,” Senator Payne said.

She said it was disappointing there was no longer an Australian media outlet with a correspondent in China, and there was unlikely to be “for some period of time”. She said the government would not retaliate by revoking the visas of Chinese journalists in Australia.

Speaking from a Sydney hotel where he is spending two weeks in quarantine, Birtles said he felt the situation was “more one of harassment” than a genuine effort to find information over the Cheng situation.

“It felt like a diplomatic tussle in a broader Australian-China relationship, more than anything specific related to that case,” he said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said security agencies “strictly followed the law” when they questioned the journalists.

Other media organisations have begun moving staff from China, and Hong Kong, to other countries. The New York Times in July relocated one-third of its Hong Kong bureau to Seoul.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: GLENDA KORPORAAL