SYDNEY – China has accused an Australian journalist of sharing state secrets abroad after she was detained about six months ago, fueling concerns about foreign media intimidation and deepening a diplomatic dispute that has cooled bilateral trade.
Cheng Lei, an anchor of the Chinese government’s English-language news channel, was officially charged on Friday, having been arrested by local authorities on 13 August. Arrest of Ms. Cheng and the evacuation of two other Australian reporters from China weeks later illustrated the dangers that journalists can face while working in the country.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it has repeatedly raised concerns about its situation with senior Chinese officials. China has not detailed the charges that Cheng faces, including the state secrets it claims have been released or to which country.
Ms. Cheng was educated at the University of Queensland in Australia and has worked for CGTN since 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile at the time of her arrest. Australian embassy officials have visited Ms. Cheng six times since she was arrested, most recently on January 27.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Diplomatic relations between Beijing and Canberra have worsened since Australia began seeking support from European leaders in mid-April to investigate any missteps that contributed to the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese officials saw Australia’s stance as politically motivated.
Tensions escalated in July, when Australia decided to suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and give city residents a way to stay permanently in response to China’s imposition of a national security law in the semi-autonomous city.
In the same month, Australia updated its travel notice for mainland China, saying that Chinese authorities have detained foreigners for allegedly “endangering national security” and that Australians are at risk of arbitrary detention.
More recently, China and Australia have exchanged barbs about everything from tariffs on barley and wine to a tweet from a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman about an adulterated image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child.
The timing of arrests and convictions of foreigners in China often coincides with disputes with other countries, leading diplomats to believe they are connected.
A few weeks after Ms. Cheng’s arrest, Bill Birtles, a correspondent for Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Beijing, and Shanghai-based Michael Smith with the Australian Financial Review, were pulled from China after a diplomatic stalemate that prompted the two to seek refuge in Australian diplomatic missions while officials negotiated their departure.
Two Canadian citizens continue to be detained by Chinese authorities about two years after being detained within hours of each other in two Chinese cities, just nine days after Canadian authorities arrested Huawei Technologies Co.’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on request United States — an incident that involved Canada in a broader diplomatic dispute between Washington and Beijing.
Write to David Winning at [email protected]
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