China accuses Australian embassy of obstructing law in sheltering two journalists who left country

China says allowing ABC's Bill Birtles and AFR's Michael Smith to stay in Australian diplomatic compounds went beyond the scope of consular protection'

The Chinese foreign ministry has accused Australian consular officials of having wantonly obstructed and disrupted the normal law enforcement activities" of Chinese authorities when they sheltered journalists Bill Birtles and Mike Smith last week.

Birtles and Smith, China correspondents for the ABC and the Australian Financial Review respectively, were flown out of China this week after a tense five-day diplomatic standoff. Chinese state security services sought to interview the two men in relation to the case of Cheng Lei, another Australian journalist who was detained in August and is believed to be in one of China's secretive black jails.