Chinese-Australian TV anchor formally arrested in China
Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been formally arrested by Chinese authorities on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
The TV anchor has been detained since August, without charge, allowing Chinese investigators to question her for up to six months without guaranteed access to legal aid.
Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for China’s state media, has been arrested.Credit: Getty
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government has raised its serious concerns about Cheng’s detention regularly at senior levels, including about her welfare and conditions.
“Australian embassy officials have visited Ms Cheng six times since her detention, most recently on 27 January 2021, in accordance with our bilateral consular agreement with China,” she said.
“We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms.”
Cheng was a former China correspondent for US pay TV network CNBC, before becoming a business reporter in 2013 for Chinese state media network CGTN-News, the English language channel of China Central Television.
The details of the arrest and exact nature of the claims against her remain vague. Cheng could now face months before formally being charged by Chinese authorities, which gives prosecutors 45 days to lay charges and then up to three extension periods under China’s opaque judicial system. The conviction rate in China is 99 per cent.
Cheng’s two young children were staying with family members in Melbourne when she was first detained in August. She has since been kept at a detention facility in China run by state security.
The University of Queensland graduate was highly critical of the Chinese government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in the months leading up to her arrest.
In public posts on Facebook Cheng accused Chinese authorities of media purges, wasteful policies and fake appearances as the country grappled with the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“In China, the belief ‘do as I say, not as I do’ runs deep in public office. ‘Serve the people’ goes the slogans, [the] reality is the opposite,” she said.
It is not clear whether the rare public criticisms of the government by a state media employee are linked to her arrest.
The 45-year-old is the second Chinese-Australian to be arrested in connection with state secrets in the past two years. The period has been marked by rapidly deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries over the decision to ban Huawei from the 5G network, criticism of China’s human rights record and a dispute over an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
Fellow Australian citizen Yang Hengjun, who was also highly critical of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, was formally charged with espionage in August. Yang and the Australian government have strongly denied the claims.
Yang now faces a closed-door trial and the prospect of between three years and life in prison under the espionage charges.
If charged and convicted under articles 110 and 113 of China’s criminal code, which includes “stealing, gathering, purchasing or illegally providing state secrets,” Cheng could face 10-years in jail.
Eryk Bagshaw is the China correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Due to travel restrictions, he is currently based in Canberra.