Chinese-born Australian Reporter Detained in China
Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei. Australia says it was informed of her detention in China on August 14. Source.
It has been over three weeks since the sudden disappearance of Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian news anchor working for the China Global Television Network (CGTV), an English-speaking channel of China Central Television. On August 14th, the Australian government was officially notified that Lei was being held at a detention center in China.
Despite the international attention this story has drawn since, many questions remain unanswered regarding Lei’s unexpected detainment. While the Chinese government is notorious for detaining political dissidents and censuring opposition, it is quite unusual for it to target a TV anchor working for its own state-controlled propaganda network.
Reports suggest that Lei sometimes made social media posts critical of the government’s actions, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, and that this could partially explain her detainment. However, this explanation is perhaps limited by the fact that English-speaking journalists in China are generally held to less restrictive standards. If Lei’s social media posts were truly the lone factor in her arrest, this would certainly be an atypical occurrence.
The question that now arises is whether or not any ulterior motives were behind the Chinese government’s actions in this case. Surely, it is reasonable to suspect that Lei, an Australian citizen, was detained as a strategic political move in the midst of serious tensions between China and Australia. According to a Reuters special report on Australia-China relations that examines these tensions, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been much more skeptical of China than his predecessors, particularly with regard to the Chinese government’s handling of the pandemic.
Australia recently played a leading role in the World Health Assembly by calling for an international investigation into the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, prompting a harsh response from Beijing. The Chinese government responded with trade sanctions on Australia, damaging the export market for several Australian goods. In addition, China discouraged its students from attending Australian universities, a move that could potentially have very harmful effects on university enrollments in Australia.
It is important to note that Prime Minister Morrison is not alone in his attitudes toward China. According to the Reuters report, an anti-China group of legislators called “the Wolverines” has formed in the Australian parliament, and public trust in China has dropped 29% over the last two years, with only 23% of Australian citizens still maintaining trust in China.
To what extent this recent erosion of Australia-China relations can explain the detainment of Cheng Lei remains unclear. While Lei’s arrest may be unrelated to these tensions, it is also entirely possible that China is using Lei as leverage over Australia during these disputes, a strategy commonly referred to as “hostage diplomacy.” Either way, it is clear that the relationship between China and Australia has reached a critical juncture. As tensions rise and public attitudes continue to change, Australia may take substantial steps to distance themselves economically from China going forward. If so, the important question then becomes whether or not other countries will follow suit in their relations with China.