The journalists flew out of China on Monday night and arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning following what public broadcaster the ABC called an "extraordinary diplomatic standoff". Birtles told reporters at Sydney airport it was very disappointing to have to leave China under "those circumstances." The Australian Financial Review said in a statement the two journalists were "going about their normal reporting duties". It added that the incident was "regrettable and disturbing and is not in the interests of a co-operative relationship between Australia and China". Relations between Australia and China have soured this year in the wake of Canberra's calls for an independent international investigation into the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 08, 2020 04:30 UTC