{"id":58828,"date":"2020-09-04T15:21:34","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T05:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=58828"},"modified":"2020-09-05T13:07:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T03:07:31","slug":"detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by authorities in Beijing, and its timing, sit within the Chinese government\u2019s larger strategy to expand its international influence and power over others. But it also shows the flaws in that strategy.<\/p>\n

Cheng\u2019s detention may be not so much about what she herself may have done or not done, but about Beijing\u2019s willingness to use its political control of the Chinese legal system for strategic purposes.\u00a0There\u2019s no doubt that it will have the intended chilling effect on reporters and journalists living in China so they avoid doing anything that could offend the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

In a larger sense, though, it\u2019s likely to achieve the opposite effect to what Beijing intends<\/a>, and be another step in the outside world becoming less accommodating to Beijing and working together to create options that rely less on China.<\/p>\n

The Chinese Communist Party controls China\u2019s legal system in ways that countries governed by the rule of law and independent systems of justice find hard to come to terms with. The legal system, like all other government institutions, is party-centred, so the Chinese government\u2019s claims that Cheng\u2019s detention is just an example of an arm\u2019s-length legal system<\/a> doing its thing are not credible.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to read the detention of such a high-profile person, who was trusted to work for Chinese state media channel CGTN in a prominent role, at this time as being a symbolic further step in Beijing\u2019s coercion of the Australian government\u2014because Canberra has acted in Australia\u2019s national interests in ways Beijing doesn\u2019t like<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is almost certainly intended to be seen as part of Beijing\u2019s other measures that follow the menus China\u2019s ambassador<\/a> in Canberra and other Chinese officials have described and put into effect since April. Even Geoff Raby\u2014a well-connected Australian business consultant in Beijing whose consultancy<\/a> thrives by promoting closer business and economic engagement with China\u2014said he was shocked<\/a> at Cheng\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an indicator that the risk to every foreign citizen\u2014notably to Australians<\/a>, but not just Australians\u2014of arbitrary arrest in mainland China has risen in recent months. This is a matter that the boards and CEOs of any companies with Australian employees in China need to pay attention to.<\/p>\n

That fits with ASPI\u2019s\u00a0recent report<\/a>\u00a0on the topic, which shows that coercive action by Beijing against foreign governments and companies in 2020 is occurring at twice the rate of recent years.\u00a0Canadian citizens in China, for example, have been detained on doubtful grounds as part of a similar attempt by Beijing to put political pressure on Canadian authorities\u2014because Canada is processing a US extradition request for a senior Huawei executive.<\/p>\n

Cheng Lei joins Yang Hengjun, another Australian, who has been held by Beijing<\/a> for some 20 months on the very broad ground of \u2018endangering national security\u2019, which gives Beijing maximum flexibility to use its legal system for political purposes. His detention has included<\/a> Chinese officials subjecting him to over \u2018300 interrogations, sometimes for hours in the middle of the night\u2019. That makes statements about foreign governments calling for \u2019proper process\u2019<\/a> for their citizens ring very hollow indeed.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s coercion is mainly working to enhance policy- and decision-makers\u2019, whether in Europe, North America, India, Japan or Australia, understanding of the growing risks of engaging with China\u2019s economy and legal jurisdiction, and the need for a cooperative multinational effort in response.<\/p>\n

Major European powers are recognising the growing risks and the need to work with partners like Australia to shape the security and economic order in the Indo-Pacific, because it\u2019s the region that will shape the global order of the 21st century. Germany, for example, has released a new strategy for its engagement in the Indo-Pacific<\/a> that emphasises the importance of multilateral partnerships and cooperation with regional organisations like ASEAN.<\/p>\n

European authorities identified China as a \u2018systemic rival\u2019<\/a> in early 2019, and have since noted that this \u2018sharp change in the balance of assumptions\u2019 about the Sino-European relationship has now been \u2018tilted further\u2019 by the pandemic, and that Europe needs to reduce its overdependence on the Chinese economy. Japan is also reducing<\/a> its economic dependence on China, for similar reasons, as is India<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, with actions like the detention of Cheng, the Chinese government is achieving the opposite result to the acquiescence it wants. Interestingly, this kind of action undercuts a separate line of Xi Jinping\u2019s policy, which is to push for deeper foreign company presence and investment in China as part of a \u2018reform and opening up\u2019<\/a> agenda that the Chinese government sees as key to getting its post-pandemic economy moving.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to see how creating fear about personal safety through arbitrary detention will encourage more foreigners and foreign companies to live in and engage with China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by authorities in Beijing, and its timing, sit within the Chinese government\u2019s larger strategy to expand its international influence and power over others. But it also shows the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":766,"featured_media":58833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,2212,1383,52],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDetention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by authorities in Beijing, and its timing, sit within the Chinese government\u2019s larger strategy to expand its international influence and power over others. But it also shows the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-04T05:21:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-05T03:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"694\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Shoebridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Shoebridge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg\",\"width\":999,\"height\":694},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/\",\"name\":\"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-04T05:21:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-05T03:07:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/b7802124e14835ff19b5c244e962849f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/b7802124e14835ff19b5c244e962849f\",\"name\":\"Michael Shoebridge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ad669e65739d5a3f4bbc0e839d8a6b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ad669e65739d5a3f4bbc0e839d8a6b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Shoebridge\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/michael-shoebridge\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist","og_description":"The detention of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by authorities in Beijing, and its timing, sit within the Chinese government\u2019s larger strategy to expand its international influence and power over others. But it also shows the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-09-04T05:21:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-05T03:07:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":999,"height":694,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Shoebridge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Shoebridge","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/chenglei0409.jpg","width":999,"height":694},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/","name":"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-09-04T05:21:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-05T03:07:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/b7802124e14835ff19b5c244e962849f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/detention-of-australian-journalist-gives-lie-to-xis-reform-and-opening-up-agenda\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Detention of Australian journalist gives lie to Xi\u2019s \u2018reform and opening up\u2019 agenda"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/b7802124e14835ff19b5c244e962849f","name":"Michael Shoebridge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ad669e65739d5a3f4bbc0e839d8a6b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ad669e65739d5a3f4bbc0e839d8a6b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael Shoebridge"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/michael-shoebridge\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/766"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58828"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58858,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58828\/revisions\/58858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}