Cheng Lei: Attempts to 'block' Chinese officials previously detained journalist Mars Australia greetings visit | CNN

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the chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang's four-day visit Australia This week has focused on mending long-strained relations between the two countries. But an apparent attempt by Chinese officials to stand in front of an Australian journalist during a press briefing has returned a spotlight. Conflict between countries.

Cheng Lei was a TV presenter Detained in China Over three years before its release in 2023, to say Sky News Australia said officials went to “great lengths” to block him from cameras during a press event on Monday where Lee and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a cooperation agreement.

Video footage shows two people involved in the incident, one of whom the outlet described as a Chinese embassy employee, trying to push past a seated Cheng, despite being blocked by another woman identified by Sky News as an Australian official. who interferes to accommodate him.

“I'm just guessing it's to prevent me from saying something or doing something that they think will make it look bad, but that in itself was a bad look,” Cheng told Sky News, where he was employed as a news anchor and Columnist since late last year.

Cheng added that such behavior was “common” because Chinese officials would not want “a voice of dissent or the presence of someone somewhat controversial” in order to present a “friendly facade”.

The press conference was attended by several media persons guardian And The Daily TelegraphReport the same details.

CNN has requested comment from the Chinese embassy in Canberra.

China's security state maintains tight controls on media and information inside the country, where officials are not subject to the kind of vigorous questioning common in democracies.

Beijing has long been condemned by Western countries and rights groups for unfair and arbitrary detentions.

Cheng, formerly a business presenter for China's state broadcaster CGTN, was detained by Chinese authorities in August 2020 on suspicion of undisclosed espionage amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra.

The mother-of-two was detained by Beijing for more than three years before being released and returned to her family in October, weeks before Albanese made the Australian leader's first visit to China in seven years.

Speaking to Sky News ahead of Monday's press conference, Cheng said it was a “very emotional day” covering his headlining tour.

“Certainly the fact that one minute I'm sitting in prison and that's being raised as an issue on this visit and the next minute I'm actually covering that visit … is a testament to how wonderful freedom and democracy are,” he said.

Cheng's detention was a deep point of contention between the two governments, as was the jailing of the author and Democracy activist Yang Henzun, an Australian citizen who received a suspended death sentence for years of espionage after being detained earlier this year. Yang has denied the allegations, which rights groups say are politically motivated.

Albanese said he had raised Yang's issue with Lee, but declined to provide an update on the health of the democracy activist, who said he feared he might die in prison due to health problems.

Asked during a press conference later about Cheng being blocked from being seen by officials as he signed the document, Albanese said he had not seen the incident described but added it was “important that people should be allowed to participate fully and that should be it. Buildings or other Australians. Somewhere.”

Panda and Visa

The situation on Monday stood as a stark reminder of Beijing-Canberra tensions and deep concerns among Australia, a staunch US ally, about China's authoritarianism amid a visit that was otherwise intended to drum up goodwill.

China's number two official Li's four-day visit to Australia is the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to a US ally in seven years. It comes as the two countries move to defuse deep tensions over trade, security and Beijing's perceived political influence in Australia and the South Pacific.

Speaking with Lee after the agreement signing ceremony, Albanese called the visit “another important step to stabilize” the relationship.

The Chinese premier, speaking through a translator, pledged that China would work with Australia “in a spirit of mutual respect, showing differences and mutual benefits as well as seeking common ground”.

Li announced on Sunday that China would deliver a new pair of pandas to South Australia's Adelaide Zoo after its current pair returns to China later this year – extending a classic gesture of friendship from China that is often called “panda diplomacy”.

China will include Australia in its visa-waiver program, Li said on Monday.

Details were not immediately announced but follow similar visa measures with other countries in recent months as China struggles to attract more international tourists to boost its flagging economy after years of Covid-19 border restrictions. Lee announced a waiver scheme for New Zealand during a visit there on Friday.

According to Albanese, the two leaders agreed to greater military-to-military contacts.

The agreement follows a recent close encounter between the two powers. A Chinese warplane in May Flames in the path of an Australian helicopter A move across the Yellow Sea was condemned by Albanese as “totally unacceptable” at the time.

Li's visit to Australia comes as China gradually rolls back several crippling trade controls that were placed on key Australian imports including beef, barley, timber, coal and wine from 2020 after then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international inquiry into their origins. . The Covid-19 pandemic in China.