The deputy head of mission at Australia's Chinese embassy has accused the ABC of spreading fake news and Australia's Foreign Minister of being misinformed as the relationship between China and Australia was examined on the latest episode of Q+A.

Key points: Journalist Stan Grant claimed Chinese officials had used force with foreign journalists in the past

Journalist Stan Grant claimed Chinese officials had used force with foreign journalists in the past The Chinese Deputy Ambassador accused Four Corners of fake news in reporting on Uyghurs being held in China

The Chinese Deputy Ambassador accused Four Corners of fake news in reporting on Uyghurs being held in China Australians with Chinese heritage say they have been vilified over the coronavirus outbreak

Wang Xining butted heads with audience members and fellow panellists including journalists Vicky Xu and Stan Grant, who spent 10 years reporting from China.

Mr Wang defended Chinese President Xi Jinping, China's political system and the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, but it was his comments on China's treatment of the Uyghur people that saw him draw the most fire — maligning the ABC's Four Corners and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

The issue arose in a question from two Uyghur Australian men appearing via video from South Australia, one whose wife and 3-year-old son were under house arrest in China.

"My son is an Australian citizen and holding an Australian passport and I've never met him," Sadam Abdusalam told Q+A.

"The Australian Government have given my wife a visa so they can come and join me in Australia, but the Chinese Government won't let them leave.

"Why have the Communist Party locked up 1 million Uyghurs? Will you release our family members?"

Mr Wang attempted to deflect but was held to account by host Hamish Macdonald, who demanded he answer: "Why can't he see his son"?

Loading

Mr Wang said the relationship was not recognised by Chinese law and the man's partner said she would prefer life in Xinjiang than Australia.

"According to my knowledge, Mr Abdusalam, he's not a Uyghur, he's an Uzbek, he took his wife, the lady in Xinjiang, to the US for a romance tour and she became pregnant," Mr Wang said.

"According to Chinese law, they don't have legal matrimonial relations.

"We don't recognise dual citizenship. So, you're either Chinese citizen or Australian citizen but the girl with the family told the Government she would not like to come to Australia."

That claim was rejected by Amnesty International Australia, who immediately accused Mr Wang of lying via their verified Twitter account.

"This is untrue. @AlmasNizamidin wife and @SMusapir family are desperate to [be] reunited in Australia — we can verify this #qanda," The tweet read.

Loading

Grant accuses China of censoring foreign media

Mr Wang said misinformation in the Western media was the problem, suggesting there was an "infodemic" at play.

The comment went to the heart of the night's key topic — the state of trust in the relationship between China and Australia — and Macdonald suggested China could let journalists into Xinjiang to see for themselves.

"Would you allow me to go and travel there [Xinjiang]?" Macdonald asked, before Xu added: "Without minders and people following him?"

"Nobody will follow Hamish over there," Mr Wang responded, prompting laughter from the audience.

Journalist Stan Grant then took Mr Wang to task. The pair had earlier sparred about Chinese media censorship, with Grant claiming he and his team had been physically assaulted while trying to film in the nation and that sources has been detained.

Stan Grant took issue with a number of points made by Wang Xining. ( ABC Supplied )

"We were often detained. We were often physically assaulted while trying to get to speak to people in many parts of China," Grant told Mr Wang.

"As well you know from our time together.

Loading

"I go back a long way with Wang Xining, because he was in charge of me, effectively controlling the foreign media in Beijing.

"People that we would interview would often disappear. Would be put under house arrest.

"We were there together and you [Wang] know very well what happened to foreign journalists if they didn't obey your rules.

"We did stories on a blind activist being held under house arrest by the Chinese Government. When we did stories, the minute we would mention his name, the screen would go black. There's just one example."

'Fake news running around' on Four Corners

Despite the allegation from Grant, Mr Wang doubled down on Chinese policy in regards to Mr Abdusalam's partner and child.

"My government wouldn't recognise his citizenship because his mother, his blood mother is in the custody," Mr Wang said.

"She is responsible for defining the citizenship of the boy. She didn't apply to the regional government or to the Chinese Government for another citizenship. This is what the embassy has informed by the regional government.

"There's always one side of the story purported by the Western media."

Loading

That story was covered by the ABC's Four Corners in 2019, as Xu pointed out, which Mr Wang said was incorrect.

"There's a lot of fake news running around," he said.

Xu reacted with shock.

"You're accusing ABC of fake news right now and you're on their show. Do you understand the irony?" she asked.

Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne has also previously taken up the family's case, but Mr Wang said Ms Payne was not aware of all sides of the story.

"She was misinformed. Madam Payne was misinformed. Her views are sometimes [based] on the Western media's portrayal about the issue," Mr Wang said.

Coronavirus fuels 'yellow peril' fear in Australia

Switching to the topic of how Chinese Australians have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, audience member Karen, who works with the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce, said friends had changed the way they acted around her.

"My family has been here 100 years and I'm feeling more aware of my heritage than ever in my entire life," she said.

Her comments were echoed by Chinese Australian Forum president Jason Yat-sen Li.

"I've noticed a lot of the content online surrounding the coronavirus is very xenophobic and based on fear-mongering," Mr Li said.

"I've had friends of mine who are of Asian descent in Australia, and instances where they're in the supermarket and people pass by them and whisper under their breath, 'coronavirus'.

"We need to acknowledge there's a lot of fear and anxiety going on out there. It's because there's so much that's unknown about this virus.

"It's so easy for it to descend into racism and xenophobia and the yellow peril that's close to the surface."

Loading

Grant, who is an Indigenous Australian, was not surprised.

"In the same way that the crisis reveals something deeply embedded in China or the Chinese Communist Party, about the lack of transparency and trust, it reveals something about us," Grant said.

"We are in many ways a deeply unprincipled nation when it comes to issues of race.

"It is at the core of who we are. Doesn't mean every Australian is a racist, but it's built into the foundations of the country.

"I don't think the media helps in the way a lot of this is reported … using the language of war — the front-line, the battleground.

"I heard on ABC this morning, the latest 'battleground' is Italy. When you use language of war, when you lose emotional language, when you give impressions of hordes of Chinese bringing illness, it doesn't take much to touch those buttons, those racist buttons that are always there in our society."

Watch this full episode of Q+A on iView or Facebook.