Australian Embassy Obstructed Law Enforcement: China

China said on Thursday that the Australian embassy in China obstructed its law enforcement when it intervened on behalf of two journalists who returned home to Australia on Monday.

A spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry said the actions of the embassy went beyond the scope of regular consular services and called on the Australian side to give an explanation.

The two correspondents for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Australian Financial Review (AFR) sheltered in the embassy in Beijing and the consulate in Shanghai while diplomats negotiated with Chinese officials to allow them to leave the country, Australia's Foreign Minister said.

The two journalists were questioned by China's state security ministry prior to their departure in relation to the case of Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist currently detained in China.

Australia has a tense diplomatic relationship with China, which worsened this year after Beijing vowed trade reprisals and said it was angered by Australia's call for an international inquiry into the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

A day after the Australian duo flew back to Sydney, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported that in June homes of some Chinese journalists were searched by the Australian intelligence agency for several hours and removing their computers and mobile phones.

"In a country with so-called 'rule of law', there is no justification and no conclusive evidence to search homes and seize personal belongings, which is completely committing "white terror" against the personnel of Chinese institutions and friends of China," Xinhua said in that report.