This file photo shows an Australian flag fluttering in front of the Great Hall of the People during a welcoming ceremony for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Beijing, China, on April 14, 2016. (By Reuters)

Australian intelligence agents raided and searched the houses of Chinese journalists, confiscated their mobile phones and computers, and interrogated them for hours in June, China’s official news agency Xinhua has revealed.

Xinhua said in a report on Tuesday that the raids on the houses of an unknown number of Chinese journalists by Australian intelligence agents took place on June 26, and the media workers were ordered to be silent about the incident.

In a country with so-called ‘rule of law,’ there is no justification and no conclusive evidence to search homes and seize personal belongings, which is completely committing white terror against the personnel of Chinese institutions and friends of China, Xinhua said.

Asked by Reuters to confirm the raids, the Chinese Embassy in Canberra said in an emailed statement to the agency that it had provided consular support to Chinese journalists in Australia and made representations with relevant Australian authorities to safeguard legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), however, declined to confirm or deny the raids to Reuters.

Xinhua also criticized a raid on the same day by Australian intelligence agents on the house and office of a local Muslim politician from New South Wales State, identified as Shaoquett Moselmane of the Labor Party, who has been critical of the ruling Conservative Party.

The report said that Moselmane had been targeted for his praise of China’s achievements in battling the coronavirus epidemic and his criticism of Australia’s anti-China policies.

The Australian Federal Police, which conducted the raids against Moselmane and his employee John Zhang on June 26, confirmed to Reuters that there is an ongoing investigation relating to the Moselmane search warrant.

But the federal police declined to comment about the raids on the houses of the Chinese journalists.

Zhang, according to Australian High Court documents cited by Reuters, remains under scrutiny as part of a foreign interference investigation into whether he was working to advance Chinese state interests.

Earlier on Tuesday, two Australian correspondents were flown out of China after being questioned by Chinese state security officials. Another Australian journalist has been detained in China on national security grounds.

Bilateral relations between China and Australia deteriorated after Canberra joined the United States in insinuating that the new coronavirus was artificially made at a Chinese lab.