The journalist was blocked from entering a government press event, but by Australian officials.
Staff from the Australian prime minister’s office barred Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei from reporting on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Premier Li Qiang.
The revelations come after Chinese Embassy staff were seen trying to block Ms. Cheng from being filmed by local media at an earlier press event at Parliament, which was attended by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and CCP Premier Li Qiang.
Ms. Cheng, a former anchor of the Chinese state-run channel CGTN, was detained in China for three years for breaking the embargo on a government press release by a few minutes.
Critics, however, argued that it was an instance of Beijing’s hostage diplomacy during a period of deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra.
The journalist was released and returned to Australia in 2023 and is now working for Sky News Australia.
The latest episodes underscore the underlying tensions during the CCP premier’s recent visit, with the freed journalist saying Beijing viewed her as a “symbol of some sort” and that they “didn’t want that for the domestic audience.”
Banned From Entering The Meeting Room
On June 19, Ms. Cheng said she was barred from being present during the opening remarks of Mr. Dutton and Mr. Li at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra, despite being registered for the event.
The journalist told Sky News Australia that when she arrived at the event, one of Prime Minister Albanese’s media staff told her she wasn’t welcome, although her cameraman could enter. Staff from Mr. Dutton’s office witnessed the confrontation but did not get involved.
“But I’ve been registered since last week,” Ms. Cheng recalled what she told the staff from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), adding that her bureau chief had put her name on the list.
“Well that’s only an expression of interest, Dutton’s team can decide who gets to come in, you’re not on there,” the DPMC staff replied.
Prior to this, Ms. Cheng said she saw members of the Chinese delegation, including two embassy staffer who previously blocked her from view at Parliament House on the same day, talking to the Australian official.
She then heard the words among themselves in Chinese: “This is our turf, we can veto it.”
