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Australia revoked visas for two Chinese scholars over security concerns amid strained bilateral relations.
Chen Hong, a professor of Australian studies at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, said today in an email to Reuters that he had received a letter from the Australian Ministry of the Interior, informing him of his visa cancellation.
Australian flag at the People's Hall during the welcome ceremony of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Beijing, China in April 2016 Photo: Reuters
"I completely oppose this assessment and believe they made a big mistake in commenting on my relationship with Australia," Chen wrote in an email.
Australia's ABC station reported that Li Jianjun, a visiting scholar at the Australian National University, received a similar letter.
Tensions between Australia and China have risen this year after Canberra in April called for an international investigation of the Covid-19 origin.
State-run Chinese news agency Xinhua yesterday reported that Australian intelligence agents searched the whereabouts of Chinese journalists in June, interrogating and retrieving their computers and phones.
China on September 8 announced that it had arrested Australian journalist Cheng Lei from August 14 on suspicion of "committing crimes that threaten China's national security".
