ABC’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith have landed on home soil, escaping what has been deemed a ‘diplomatic standoff’.

The two Australian journalists have been rushed home due to safety concerns, but the situation continues to raise questions surrounding a potential naivety towards our ties to China.

With a strong reliance on Chinese foreign affairs and trade relations, how will escalating tensions impact Australia? Is there freedom of speech for our foreign correspondents?

Clive Hamilton joins John Stanley to discuss this issue in light of his newest novel, ‘Hidden Hand’, exposing the Chinese Communist Party and its threat to democractic freedoms.

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