Former Australian reporter in Beijing said his 14-year-old daughter was threatened with detention

 A former ABC reporter in Beijing said Monday that he and his 14-year-old daughter were threatened with detention before they left China two years ago.

Matthew Carney said he had not revealed the 2018 incident until now because he had wanted to avoid “negative consequences” for Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s operations in China. Two weeks ago reporters for the state-funded ABC and The Australian Financial Review newspaper became the last two Australian journalists working for Australian media to leave China due to threats of detention.

Carney was the ABC’s China bureau chief in 2018 when Australia passed laws outlawing covert foreign interference in domestic politics, which he said “outraged” China. Carney said the laws started “three months of intimidation and all types of threats” for him and his family.

Carney told his story in an interview aired on ABC radio and in an account posted on the news organization’s website Monday. There was no immediate response from China. Carney said he was told to bring this 14-year-old daughter, Yasmine, to a Beijing Public Security facility where interrogations and detentions were the norm.

A woman official told him that he and his daughter were being investigated for a “visa crime.” “Your daughter is 14 years old. She is an adult under Chinese law and as the People’s Republic of China is a law-abiding country she will be charged with the visa crime,” Carney said he was told.

He said the woman said his daughter could be detained “with other adults” in an undisclosed location. “She was obviously very skilled in interrogation and in ramping up the fear and the panic,” Carney said. Carney said he offered to leave China with his wife and three children the next day, but was told he could not leave the country while he was under investigation.

With his visa due to expire within days, the official said he could be placed in detention. After consultation with the Australian Embassy and the ABC, Carney said he decided to confess his guilt and apologize for the “bizarre visa violation,” on condition that his daughter was allowed to stay with the family.

Their confessions were video recorded and the woman told him she would write a report to “the higher authority” for judgment. With the family’s visas about to expire, the official said the judgment could be weeks away. But he got a phone call the next day and was told two-month extensions had been granted to their visas.

He said he thought it was “some bizarre theater” to send a message to himself and Australia’s government that “A, if you do bad reporting, B, if your government is going to introduce harsh laws we don’t agree with, well then there is a price to be paid?”

“In retrospect, that’s what I think it was, thank God. They didn’t follow through on their threats,” Carney said. Carney said he made the sudden decision to leave China after a Chinese woman threatened to sue him for defamation over a story he reported about Chinese attempts to engineer better citizen behavior.

He had legal advice that that he would be banned from leaving once legal proceedings were initiated against him. Australia updated its travel advice in July to warn its citizens of potential arbitrary detention on security grounds in China.

Chinese-Australian spy novelist and blogger Yang Hengjun has been detained in China since he arrived on a flight from New York in January last year in what some suspects is a Chinese reaction to deteriorating bilateral relations. The 55-year-old has since been charged with endangering state security.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the day the last two Australian journalists working for Australian media in China left the country that Australian citizen Cheng Lei, a business news anchor for CGTN, China’s English-language state media channel, had been detained on suspicion of national security crimes.

India: Delhi Journalist Rajeev Sharma arrested on charges of spying, sold sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies

New Delhi: A freelance journalist who was arrested on charges of spying two days ago, was allegedly passing on sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies, said Delhi police on saturday, claiming to have a busted a major spying operation amid soaring tensions between the two countries.

The Delhi Police said it has also arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate, and claimed that they were paying huge amounts of money to the freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma for allegedly providing sensitive information."Special Cell has arrested a freelance journalist, Rajeev Sharma, for passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. One Chinese lady and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies. Chinese intelligence tasked the journalist for conveying sensitive information in lieu of large amounts of money," the police said.

"Huge number of mobile phones, laptops and other incriminating and sensitive material have been recovered," the police said. Mr Sharma, a journalist accredited with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) who lived in Delhi's Pitampura, was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday.

"He was found to be in possession of some classified defence-related documents. The investigation is in progress and further details will be shared in due course," senior police officer Sanjeev Kumar Yadav had said on Friday.

According to the police, Mr Sharma was getting $1,000 for each piece of information and was paid Rs. 30 lakh in one-and-a-half years. He wrote on defence-related issues for China's Global Times and was contacted by Chinese agents in 2016, the police said.

Sharply criticising the arrest the "well-known independent journalist of long standing", the Press Club of India (PCI) called the move "high-handed" and alleged that it "may be inspired by obscure or questionable considerations".

"This is on account of the dubious track record of the Special Cell. More generally also, the record of Delhi Police is hardly a shining one," it said.

"Of late, Delhi Police, including its Special Cell, have made preposterous arrests under the lawless law called UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) in which the word of the government is enough to keep an innocent person behind bars for long periods. These have happened in matters relating to anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests and the carefully designed communal killings in the so-called February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi," the PCI said. 

The arrests come amid a months-long border standoff between India and China in Ladakh that peaked on June 15, when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty - a first in more than four decades. Even after that, there have been repeated attempts by the Chinese troops to recapture the heights occupied by the Indian soldiers.

Australia says security agencies acted on evidence in Chinese journalist raid

Sydney, Australia: Australia’s security agencies acted on evidence related to a foreign interference investigation when a raid was conducted on Chinese journalists in Australia in June, the country’s trade minister said on Friday.

The incident, involving four Chinese state media journalists, was revealed by China’s foreign ministry this week, in the wake of two Australian journalists departing China after questioning by Chinese police. Relations between Australia and top trading partner China are at a low ebb after Beijing was angered by Canberra’s call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, responding with trade reprisals, and Australia toughened national security tests for foreign investment.


Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the Australian security agencies had acted according to the law. “We appropriately respond in relation to any foreign interference concerns that are raised in Australia,” he told the ABC News Breakfast television programme, when asked about the incident. “We do it purely in relation to the evidence,” he added.

Birmingham denied suggestions the June raid had provoked a retaliation from Beijing which saw exit bans placed on journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corp and the Australian Financial Review newspaper in China last week, and the pair seeking consular protection.

China has accused the Australian embassy of obstructing law enforcement when it sheltered the two journalists who were wanted for questioning in the country and returned to Australia this week. Birmingham denied this and said Australian embassy officials had respected China’s processes to negotiate an outcome.


“The embassy engaged diligently to ensure the safety of the two individuals concerned, but they also engaged cooperatively with Chinese officials to ensure the resolution of the matter, which included the opportunity for Chinese authorities to interview the individuals concerned,” he told ABC radio. Another Australian citizen, Chinese television anchor Cheng Lei, was detained by Chinese authorities in August.

China Vs Australia: China Detains High-Profile Australian Journalist and television anchor

Sydney, Australia: China has detained an Australian journalist working for its state-run English-language television network CGTN, Australia's foreign minister said on Monday.

The detention of journalist Cheng Lei is a new blow to deteriorating relations between the two countries that have seen China warn its citizens of travelling to Australia and vice-versa. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was informed on August 14 that Cheng was being held by Beijing authorities. Australian consular officials spoke to Cheng in her detention facility via video link on August 27 and were in touch with her family, Payne said in a statement.

She provided no further details, but public broadcaster ABC said Cheng's friends became concerned after she stopped responding to messages in recent weeks. The CGTN website page which described Cheng as an anchor on the network's Global Business programme was no longer available after news of her detention emerged.

The ABC said Cheng was being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location", a form of detention that allows investigators to hold and question a suspect for up to six months without them being formally arrested. The broadcaster published a statement by Cheng's family in Melbourne expressing confidence that "In China, due process will be observed and we look forward to a satisfactory and timely conclusion to the matter."



"We ask that you respect that process and understand there will be no further comment at this time," the statement said. Ties began to sour between Australia and China- its biggest trading partner- more than two years ago when Australian authorities began to move against what was seen as China's growing political interference and influence peddling in the country.

Beijing was particularly infuriated by Australia's leading role in international calls earlier this year for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, China has taken steps to curb key Australian imports and encouraged Chinese students and tourists to avoid the country.

Cheng is the second high-profile Australian citizen to be detained in Beijing after writer Yang Hengjun was arrested in January 2019 on suspicion of espionage. Earlier this year Australia warned its citizens they faced the risk of arbitrary detention if they traveled to China.

Hong Kong Rejects Journalist's Visa, Stoking Press Freedom Concerns

Hong Kong: A Hong Kong news website said on Thursday that authorities had rejected a visa for an Irish journalist working there without providing a reason, stoking concerns about media freedoms under Beijing’s new national security law for the city.

Aaron McNicholas, who covered the city’s sometimes-violent anti-government protests last year for Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), waited almost six months before being told his visa had been denied, the outlet said. “It seems we have been targeted under the climate of the new security law and because of our impartial and fact-based coverage,” HKFP editor-in-chief Tom Grundy said in a statement. The news website would press the government to offer reasons for the denial and would consider an appeal and legal challenge, he added.

The Hong Kong government and immigration department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Media groups said the move reflected an acceleration in the decline of press freedoms under the security law which punishes what Beijing defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail.

“Denial of a work visa to a thriving local news operation bashes the most basic promise of press freedom given repeatedly by the Hong Kong government,” said Steven Butler, Asia Programme Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “It also severely undermines Hong Kong’s status as an international city and financial centre, which cannot flourish unless journalists are free to do their work.”

Journalists in the former British colony have told Reuters they fear the legislation could be used to silence media and crack down on freedom of expression, concerns the Hong Kong government has rejected. The semi-autonomous city is guaranteed freedom of speech and the press under Article 27 of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution agreed by China when it took back control of the global financial hub in 1997.

The news comes more than a month after The New York Times said it would shift part of its Hong Kong office to Seoul as it faced challenges securing work permits. The Hong Kong government said at the time the city remained a regional media hub.

Corona Vaccine Race: China's latest COVID-19 phase III vaccine to be available, affordable to people worldwide

Beijing: China's vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic will be available and affordable to people worldwide, said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group, in Beijing on Thursday. 

A ceremony took place in Beijing on Thursday to launch phase three clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine in Peru. Peru's national health authorities have approved the trials, the latest in China's efforts to strengthen international cooperation in pandemic control. "We launched the promotion of international clinical trials in April. So we’re making key breakthroughs in the United Arab Emirates, which have been very successful. Today, we established a cooperation relationship with Peru, and officially received the documents in all aspects, and will soon start equity participation. Up to now, the clinical phase three trials, from the experimental point of view, the layout is completely sufficient," said Liu.

Liu said that China's Biotec Group is carrying out the research with experts from some of Peru's leading universities. "In Peru, we're working with the National University of San Marcos and another university [University of Cayetano Heredia], specifically to cooperate comprehensively on the clinical phase three trials. They're two of the top universities in Peru, and their experts have been very professional across the board," said Liu.

Liu added that the vaccines will only be used after sufficient preparations and they are striving to make it available to the public worldwide. "Vaccines are to be used for prevention by healthy people. It must be accessible to the general public. According to President Xi Jinping's speech at the World Health Assembly, China's vaccines will be used as global public goods after research and development is successful, which means both available and affordable to the people worldwide," Liu said.

Liu pointed out two research and production facilities in Beijing and Wuhan, which was hit the hardest by the virus, that could ensure the supply of 200 million vaccines a year. "We have two research and production facilities in Beijing and Wuhan, which can ensure the next large-scale quantitative production, feasibility and availability of the vaccines. We are making every effort to prepare for the vaccine's mass production. According to normal daytime production speed, we can supply over 200 million vaccines a year. We can ensure the availability and mass production on the basis of the quality, safety, and effectiveness of our vaccines," said Liu.

Liu introduced that taking an injection twice with an interval of 28 days would give the best effect of the vaccines. "According to our clinical experiments, taking two injections can achieve the best effect. The best interval between the two injections is 28-days, which would ensure overall effectiveness, because, after the first injection, the antibody would increase slowly and after the second injection, the antibody increases quite fast. The two injections could guarantee the validity and could prolong the validity. So this method is best in effectiveness, which is approved by experimental data," said Liu.