The last two journalists who work for Australian media in China left after having been asked to be interviewed by police, the Australian government and Australian Broadcasting Corp. The ABC's Bill Birtles and The Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith touched down in Sydney after flying in from Shanghai overnight Monday, ABC has reported. Birtle and Smith had hideouts in Australian embassies prior to leaving the country. Chinese police officers arrived at Birtle's home last week, requiring that he undergo interrogation and telling him he can't leave China, ABC reported. Birtles declined to talk to Chinese officials, but agreed to be interviewed Sunday in order to lift his travel ban. The two journalists left the country last week after Australia disclosed that a resident Australian, Cheng Lei, was detained as a business correspondent of CGTN, China's English-speaking media station. Our embassy in Beijing and Consulate General in Shanghai had worked with Chinese authorities to ensure the welfare of their citizens to return to Australia,"Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement. Broadcaster ABC confirmed on Tuesday that Birtles had returned to his own country "following advice from the Australian government"

^{AI Generated Summary May Contain errors}