There has not yet been an explanation for the detention of the CGTN news anchor, but it is difficult to untangle it from deeply strained relations between China and Australia.
China’s bullying behaviour, its threatened resort to a form of economic blackmail and its attempts to drive a wedge between Canberra and Washington mark a vexed new frontier for Australian diplomacy.
Launching journalist Peter Hartcher’s Quarterly Essay, Red Flag: Waking up to China’s challenge, Rudd said “we have become too China-dependent. We need to diversify further”.
This may turn out to be a major threat to Australian security, but it is important that the political class – including the media – not overreact to the “China threat”.
Liu’s disastrous interview on Sky News forced the government into a full scale defence of her, saying that Labor, in pursuing her, was being “xenophobic” and “grubby”.
Michelle Grattan discusses the increasing strain on the Australia-China relationship following the arrest of Dr. Yang Hengjun, and the government’s draft religious discrimination legislation.
The Morrison government is setting up a University Foreign Interference Taskforce, as it grapples with encroachments by China into Australia’s higher education sector.
The unexplained detention of author and diplomat Yang Hengjun has raised more questions about the motives of a Chinese government under stress from within and without.
Interviews with Chinese executives confirm the political debate about China is creating feelings of being unwelcome and apprehensive about investing in Australia.