Two Australian researchers banned from entering China

Professor Clive Hamilton and researcher Alexander Joske said they were not planning to travel to China and had not applied for a visa to do so in many years.

Professor Clive Hamilton (left) and Alexander Joske (right) have banned from entering China, local media has reported. Source: Supplied

Two Australian researchers have been banned from entering China, weeks after two Australian journalists were forced to flee the country.

The scholars were identified by Chinese state-owned newspaper The Global Times as Professor Clive Hamilton from Charles Sturt University and Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) analyst Alexander Joske.

Citing unnamed sources, the Global Times said the pair were banned under the country's "exit and entry administration law" after the Australian government allegedly revoked the visas of two Chinese scholars earlier this year.

Professor Hamilton is a vocal critic of the Chinese Government, and recently published a book about the Communist Party's influence in Australia. Mr Joske conducted research for the book, which was released this year.

Both Professor Hamilton and Mr Joske said on Thursday they had not planned to travel to China, nor applied for a visa in years, citing safety concerns.

Professor Hamilton added that he had not received prior warning of the ban and was only made aware of it through the Global Times report.

"With the Chinese government getting increasingly paranoid and vindictive, it isn't the sort of place someone like me would go nowadays," he told ABC News.

"It is pretty clear from the Global Times article that the banning of myself and Alexander Joske is in retaliation to the Australian government's exclusion of two Chinese academics ... It's a petty, petty response."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a briefing of foreign journalists on Thursday the government was well within their rights to ban the two scholars.

China firmly opposes actions that harm the country's security and spread misinformation under the pretext of scholarly work, he said. 

Earlier this month, Chinese media accused the Australian government of raiding the homes of four Chinese journalists in Australia and revoking the visas of two Chinese scholars.

The accusations came after ABC foreign correspondent Bill Birtles and Michael Smith from the Australian Financial were evaucated from Beijing and Shanghai respectively after they were sought for questioning regarding an investigation into detained Australian-Chinese journalist Cheng Lei.

In a statement regarding the article, Mr Joske - who was raised in China - said the report was an attempt by the Chinese government to "punish those who shine a light on its activities", he said.

"I am proud of my research on the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to interfere in politics and transfer technology around the world. The accuracy of my research on these topics has never been seriously challenged by the Chinese government," the statement continued.

"I will continue to study these globally important issues."

Earlier on Thursday, the ASPI released new research they say shows 380 detention centres in China's western Xinjiang region that have been newly built or expanded since 2017.

Researchers used satellite imagery to track the construction of the camps, which they say counter Chinese Government claims that the Uighur Muslim detainees had "graduated" from the so-called "re-education centres" in 2019. 

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesperson told SBS News that every country has the right to determine their own visa requirements. "Australia strongly supports academic freedom and freedom of speech," they said.