Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has weighed in in defence of Australian journalist Cheng Lei after she was obstructed by Chinese embassy officials.
The Australian government has complained to the Chinese embassy about how local journalist Cheng Lei was treated by Chinese officials in Parliament House on Monday.
Ms Cheng is now working for Sky News and spent three years behind bars in China before returning home to Australia in"When you look at the footage, it was a pretty clumsy attempt, frankly by a couple of people to stand in between where the cameras were and where Cheng Lei was sitting," Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Perth.
The incident infuriated Australian officials who made repeated attempts to get the Chinese officials to move, but were ignored. "But this visit is taking place in Australia, yesterday's events took place in Australia's Parliament House, and freedom of the press there is paramount," he told Sky News. "Either his office needs to apologise for not briefing him properly, or he needs to apologise to the Australian people for misleading them," he told Channel Seven.
Anthony Albanese Li Qiang Parliament House Chinese Embassy
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