Chinese media officials have attempted to prevent Australian journalist Cheng Lei from appearing on camera during a news conference with Premier Li Qiang, more than eight months after she was released from a Chinese prison.
Video footage shows embassy officials attempting to move in front of Lei to block her from the cameras’ view.
Lei was imprisoned by Chinese authorities in 2020 after being accused of “illegally supplying state secrets abroad”, accusations that were unfounded.
He returned home to Melbourne last year after a three-year ordeal in prison.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with China’s second most powerful leader, Li Qiang.
It comes just hours after pro- and anti-China protesters clashed on the lawn outside Parliament House ahead of Premier Qiang’s state visit, the first by a Chinese leader in seven years.
Peaceful supporters in Tibet, a predominantly Buddhist region in far western China, were surrounded by counter-protesters who unfurled huge Chinese and Australian flags to hide them from view.
Some protesters carried huge flags combining the Chinese and Australian flags, while Tibetan supporters struggled to keep their banner up.
At one point, a fight broke out when a man fell to the ground and knocked over a raised speaker while a heavy police presence watched the confrontation.
One observer claimed that “people carrying Chinese flags were bussed and paid to ‘welcome’ Chinese Premier Li Qiang.”
More to come.
