Australian journalists’ case a reminder of what can happen when you challenge China, and it doesn’t bode well

Australian reporters have become pawns in a much bigger game after the Trump administration’s ill-advised decision to cut the number of Chinese reporters in the US gave darker elements in the Chinese system the upper hand in dealing with foreign journalists

Richard McGregor

Published: 8:45am, 12 Sep, 2020

Updated: 9:30am, 12 Sep, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP

Illustration: Craig Stephens

READ FULL ARTICLE

Richard McGregor

+ FOLLOW

Richard McGregor is a senior fellow for east Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. Mr McGregor was bureau chief for the Financial Times in Shanghai, Beijing and Washington and has also reported from Hong Kong, Tokyo and Taipei. His book, The Party, on the inner-workings of the Chinese Communist Party, published in 2010, was called a “masterpiece” by The Economist and was chosen by the Asia Society and Mainichi Shimbun in Japan as their book of the year in 2011. His last book on Sino-Japanese relations, Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US in the Pacific Century, published in 2017, was called “shrewd and knowing” by the Wall Street Journal and the “best book of the year” by the Literary Review in the UK.