Raiding of Chinese journalists in Australia 'utterly appalling', says state Chinese media
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'This gross, imperious and unreasonable act was utterly appalling. It fully exposes the Cold-War mentality and political prejudice of some Australian departments and officials,' the media said
Australia and China are fighting a diplomatic war for the past few weeks now. The diplomatic tension has resulted in various attacks on the journalists from both sides.
While Australia pulled out all the last two journalists from China, after they were subjected to investigations by the Chinese authorities, Beijing, too, has accused of raiding the properties of the Chinese journalists in Australia.
The news of Chinese journalists being 'hounded' in Australia was reported in Chinese mouthpiece Global Times, claiming that the Australian authorities raided homes of four journalists in June.
The state news Xinhua has now slammed the "attacks" on the journalists calling them "utterly appalling".
"This gross, imperious and unreasonable act was utterly appalling. It fully exposes the Cold-War mentality and political prejudice of some Australian departments and officials," a Xinhua spokesperson said, according to the agency.
"What they have done not only seriously harms the reputation and image of Chinese media, but also seriously interferes with the normal people-to-people exchanges between China and Australia," added the spokesperson, who was not identified.
The raids have also been slammed by the Chinese government. On Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that such action from Australia "blatantly violates the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists there and caused severe harm to the physical and mental health of the journalists and their families."
However, the Australian authorities have responded back saying the raids were conducted by the security agencies with respect to proper procedure and law.