China says banning Australian scholars within its sovereign remit

China said on Thursday it was totally within its rights as a sovereign power to ban two Australian scholars. China firmly opposes actions that harm the country's security and spread misinformation under the pretext of scholarly work, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press briefing.

The Global Times newspaper said earlier on Thursday, citing unnamed sources, that China had barred entry to two "anti-China" Australian scholars.