The Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Australian authorities of infringing on the rights of four Chinese journalists by raiding their homes more than two months ago.

During a press briefing, ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Australian agents had in June searched the residences of four journalists working for China’s state-run news outlets and questioned them over alleged violations of anti-foreign interference laws.

Australian authorities have still yet to return the journalists' computers and mobile phones that were seized during the raid, Zhao told the Global Times. Even children’s tablets and electronic toys were forcibly taken away, he said.

Zhao said Australian officials had not given any reasonable explanation so far for the raids. He added that authorities should stop their “barbaric and unreasonable acts” and stop harassing Chinese nationals in the country.

Zhao’s remarks came a day after two Australian journalists, Bill Birtles of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Michael Smith of the Australian Financial Review, were flown out of China after being questioned by Chinese security agents. Prior to their departure, Birtles and Smith were the last two accredited Australian media journalists stationed in China.

Meanwhile, Australian police and intelligence authorities have revoked the visas of two leading Chinese scholars — media commentator Chen Hong and Australian studies expert Li Jianjun — during an investigation into an alleged plot by China to infiltrate the Parliament of New South Wales.

China News Service’s Australia bureau chief, Tao Shelan, and China Radio International’s Sydney bureau chief, Li Dayong, have also been placed under investigation.

The Global Times hit out at Australian authorities, saying they had “infringed on the legitimate rights and interests of journalists from Chinese media and institutions in Australia” and had severely disrupted the exchanges between the two countries.

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