(Dan Tri) – An Australian reporter in Beijing said he and his 14-year-old daughter were threatened with arrest before leaving China two years ago.

An ABC news reporter was threatened with arrest in China.

Matthew Carney was a reporter for Australia’s ABC news agency in China in 2018. At that time, Australia passed a law banning foreign interference in Australia’s internal political affairs.

Carney said that after the law was introduced, he and his family began experiencing three months of intimidation and facing all forms of threats.

According to CNBC, Carney told his story in an interview broadcast on ABC radio and in an article posted on this news agency’s website on September 21.

Carney said he was asked to take his 14-year-old daughter, Yasmine, to a police station in Beijing.

Carney was told his daughter could be detained “with other adults” at an undisclosed location.

The Australian male reporter recalled that he asked to leave China with his wife and three children the next day.

With just a few days left on his visa, Carney was told he could be detained.

After consulting with the Australian Embassy in China and ABC news agency, Carney decided to plead guilty and apologize for violating visa regulations.

Carney’s testimony was recorded and the Chinese female officer said she would send a report to higher levels for review.

According to Carney, the above incident is a `drama` for China to send a message to him and the Australian government: `If you report bad news, or if your government passes harsh laws that we

Carney also said he quickly decided to leave China after a Chinese woman threatened to sue him for `libel,` related to an article Carney wrote about Beijing’s efforts to regulate China.

Carney kept what happened to his family a secret until recently.

Australia in July warned its people about the risk of arrest when traveling to China.

According to SCMP, two weeks ago, two Australian reporters, Bill Birtles, a reporter for ABC news agency, and Michael Smith, a reporter for the Australian Financial Times (AFR), rushed to catch a flight back to Sydney on the night of September 7.

In January 2019, Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian novelist and blogger, was arrested in China after being accused of endangering China’s national security.

The arrests took place in the context of relations between Australia and China being in a tense period recently, after Canberra called for an international investigation into the origin of Covid-19.