China willing to grant access to Australian journalists, PM says

During a press conference in Parliament House and with protesters camped outside, Mr Albanese sidestepped questions about China's refusal to issue visas to Australian journalists, and a Chinese official's interference at a media event.

Australia's major media outlets including News Corp, Nine and the ABC have been unable to base a foreign correspondent in Beijing since 2020, when China began its crackdown on Australian reporters, in a move seen as retaliation for the expulsion of Chinese journalists from Australia on foreign security grounds.

When asked if he had raised "the question of the Australian media getting back into China", Mr Albanese said he had done so during his Beijing visit in November.

"The Chinese side say that they are willing to grant that access," he said.

"Speaking to some media organisations as well, it's a matter of whether they wish to send people there."

A spokeswoman for the ABC said the national broadcaster still hoped to secure a journalist visa for a foreign correspondent.

"The ABC remains very interested in basing a correspondent in China," the spokeswoman said.

Former ABC China correspondents Matthew Carney and Bill Birtles fled China in 2018 and 2020 amid threats and interrogations from Chinese security officials.

ABC journalist Sarah Ferguson, who had been appointed to succeed Birtles, was instead sent to Washington in 2021 after her visa application languished.

A similar fate befell The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age's Eryk Bagshaw and The Australian's Will Glasgow, who were instead appointed North Asia correspondents based in Singapore and Taiwan.

The Canberra Times has been told that Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade briefings to media organisations have flagged that having foreign correspondents based in China on a residential basis would create a significant security risk.

Human rights protesters and pro-China supporters clashed on the lawn of Parliament House on Monday, with police arresting a man for breach of peace.

Sky News reported a separate small group attempted to set a Chinese Communist Party flag alight and aired footage of a man saying: "We're going to burn it. Burn CCP. CCP criminal group."

Inside the building, a Chinese official was observed trying to block cameras' view of Sky News host Cheng Lei - who was freed last year after spending three years in a Chinese prison - multiple times during a 20-minute press event.

"I didn't see that. I saw Cheng Lei and we smiled at each other," Mr Albanese said when asked if the behaviour was acceptable in "the heart of Australia's democracy".

"I'm not aware of those issues. It's important that people be allowed to participate fully and that's what should happen in this building or anywhere else in Australia."

Mr Albanese and Mr Li signed agreements on climate change, trade and education.

Mr Li said the two countries would "properly manage" differences and noted an agreement to provide each other with reciprocal access to five-year multiple entry visas.

Mr Albanese said he had put "dialogue at the centre" of his engagement with China as he worked at "stabilising" the relationship.