REMEMBER WHEN

Thursday, May 7, 1998

HE’S famous these days as a columnist and TV host but Andrew Bolt was once a news journalist who had big trouble in China.

Bolt was detained in 1998 while on assignment after reporting that Chinese authorities were holding a Gold Coast ship’s captain against his will.

The then News Corp Asia correspondent was last seen by a consular official being led away at Marine Police headquarters in the port of Haikou in the island province of Hainan.

He was detained while trying to approach the Petro Ranger, a tanker captained by Gold Coastbased Kenneth Blyth, which appeared in China after being seized by pirates in the South China Sea.

Blyth, 53, was reported to have been held against his will by 10 armed soldiers on board the vessel.

China had held Blyth and his 20 crew for nine days and banned the ship’s owners or Australian consular officials from boarding the vessel.

Bolt was questioned over how he entered what China claimed as a military zone.

A Foreign Affairs Department spokesman told media an Australian consular official was urgently seeking access to Bolt.

Bolt was freed shortly after but the Chinese government continued to hold Blyth for a further three weeks.

After being freed, Blyth flew to Singapore and on to Australia to rest at his Gold Coast Hinterland home.

The ship also was allowed to sail and returned to Singapore, where its owner, Petroships Pty Ltd, was based.