Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been released from detention by Chinese authorities after being held in custody for more than three years. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that she had arrived back in Melbourne after being arrested in August 2020.
Mr. Albanese said she was reunited with her partner and children and met by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong at the airport. He said he was glad she had returned home and the government would continue to provide consular support. “Her return brings an end to a very difficult few years for Ms. Cheng and her family. As has been the case throughout her detention, our focus remains on her interests and welfare,” he said.
“This is an outcome that the Australian government has been seeking for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends, but by all Australians. The Australian people wanted to see Cheng Lei reunited with her young kids,” Mr. Albanese added.
“Tight hugs, teary screams, holding my kids in the spring sunshine. Trees shimmy from the breeze. I can see the entirety of the sky now! Thank you Aussies,” Ms. Cheng posted on social media.
The 48-year-old former anchor for the state-run China Global Television Network was accused of national security-related offences. Mr. Albanese said Australia had traded nothing with China for Ms. Cheng’s release which followed the completion of judicial processes in China. A court in Beijing convicted her of illegally providing state secrets abroad and she was sentenced to two years and 11 months imprisonment. Ms. Cheng was not granted regular contact with her two children while in custody in China.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said Ms. Cheng will be warmly welcomed back by all Australians. “Her detention over the last three years has been a very painful episode for her and those near and dear to her,” he told ABC Radio National, adding: “It’s been one where the pain has been exacerbated by the lack of transparency, information and the uncertainty attached to it right throughout that period of detention.”
Her release is being hailed as a significant positive developments in Australia’s bilateral relationship with China. Her return comes ahead of Mr. Albanese’s planned visit to Beijing on a date yet to be announced. He will become the first Australian prime minister to visit the Chinese capital in seven years.
With Australian Associated Press
Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
