The doyen of Australian journalists covering China, the New York Times’ correspondent Chris Buckley — a doctor of philosophy from the Australian National University — has just been booted out of the People’s Republic. Married with a student daughter, he returned early this week to Sydney.

Tragically, the New York Times’ most distinguished China correspondent has just been booted out of the People’s Republic. Married with a student daughter, he returned early this week to Sydney. The reasons will never be made public, but no doubt include the tit-for-tat war of accreditation for journalists between the United States and China, and the general deterioration of their relationship as the two countries continue to decouple.

Underlying the expulsion, however, is the fact that Buckley’s presence had become hugely inconvenient to the brittle Powers That Be in this increasingly authoritarian polity.

Over the last 15 years he has broken more scoops about and produced more credible analysis of events in the People’s Republic than any journalist in the world. This naturally makes him a hero for many Chinese people — at least, those who can gain access to his writings via VPNs or other means — but a palpable target for ambitious apparatchiks.

Reporting in and on China requires a level of attention and perseverance considerably more intense than virtually any other field.

Please click here to read the full “Australia’s top China journalist expelled By Beijing” article published at The China Story, written by Griffith Asia Institute industry fellow, Rowan Callick