The Federal Government has confirmed consular officials have had access this week to an Australian journalist detained in China.
Key points:
- Australian officials have twice had consular access to Cheng Lei since her detention in August
- Chinese authorities have accused Ms Cheng of "endangering national security"
- It is not known exactly where the journalist is being held
Cheng Lei was working as a high-profile anchor for China's state-run English news service, CGTN, until she was arrested last month.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ms Lei was "suspected of criminal activities endangering national security".
The Federal Government said it was providing consular assistance to Ms Cheng and her family, and was given access to her earlier this week.
"We were granted consular access to Ms Cheng on 28 September via video at a detention centre where she is being held," the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told the ABC in a statement.
DFAT said it would not provide any further information because of privacy obligations.
It was only the second consular visit to Ms Cheng since the Australian Government was informed of her detention on August 14.
"We were granted consular access to Ms Cheng on 27 August via video at the detention centre," DFAT told the ABC earlier this month.
"Australia's ambassador to China participated in the visit."
Ms Cheng, who has two young children living with family in Melbourne, is being held in Beijing under what is called "residential surveillance at a designated location".
It is a form of detention in which investigators can imprison and question a suspect for up to six months while cutting them off from lawyers and the outside world — all before they have even been formally arrested.
Associate Professor Feng Chongyi from the University of Technology Sydney, who was himself detained in China for a week in 2017, has said it is an "arbitrary detention" that violates human rights.
"The victim is usually held in solitary confinement, sealed off from the outside world for up to six months and subjected to continuous interrogations, sleep deprivation and other forms of torture," he said.
Worsening Australia-China relations
Relations between Australia and China have been steadily deteriorating in recent months.
Earlier this month, the ABC's Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review's Mike Smith were pulled out of China after a five-day diplomatic standoff.
They were initially barred from leaving the country unless they consented to an interview by police about a national security case they were not involved with.
Shortly after Birtles and Smith arrived back in Australia, a host of Chinese media outlets revealed Australia's spy agency ASIO had raided the homes of four Chinese state media journalists in June.
More details have since been revealed by the ABC about a highly sensitive foreign political interference investigation being carried out by Australian authorities.
The ABC revealed Australian police had accessed communications involving top Chinese diplomats and named a Chinese consular official in a warrant as part of the investigation.
Tensions between Canberra and Beijing have also been tested recently over trade, Hong Kong and the coronavirus pandemic.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA5LTMwL2F1c3RyYWxpYW4tb2ZmaWNpYWxzLWFjY2Vzcy1qb3VybmFsaXN0LWNoZW5nLWxlaS1kZXRhaW5lZC1jaGluYS8xMjcxNzM1ONIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjcxNzM1OA?oc=5
2020-09-30 06:37:00Z
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