Latest news with #ChengLei
Nikkei Asia
4 days ago
- Nikkei Asia
Cheng Lei rediscovers her voice after 'cruelty' of Chinese detention
Cheng Lei speaks to Nikkei Asia in Sydney on June 18. (Photo by Rurika Imahashi) SOPHIE MAK SYDNEY -- After building a career explaining China to the outside world, Australian journalist Cheng Lei found herself known only as inmate 21003. She was imprisoned at the No. 47 Dahongmen Nanlu detention center in Beijing, where she had to follow a strict set of rules, primary among them was a ban on any criticism of the ruling Communist Party. "I was gagged all that time. There were so many things I couldn't ask, couldn't talk about; I didn't have a pen," Cheng told Nikkei Asia.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The TV star who would make the ideal Beijing cellmate
MEMOIR Cheng Lei: A memoir of freedom Harper Collins, $35.99 Not that it's anyone's Plan A, but if you had to be locked up in Beijing you could do worse than having Cheng Lei as a cellmate. She'd be good company, if her memoir recounting her three years at the mercy of China's justice system is anything to go by. And she can fashion a birthday cake out of buns and some leftover snacks. Her creativity and resilience in the face of adversity are admirable, but the tragedy of Cheng's three years in detention is that she should never have endured them. The Chinese-Australian TV presenter's crime, as she describes it, was texting the government's economic growth targets to a friend at another news organisation seven minutes before an embargo she was oblivious to. That the premier did not set a growth target was the news, an understandable choice given the COVID-19 pandemic but a break from decades of precedent. Eight words were sent at 7.23am, from the host of a business program on the state-run CGTN network to a reporter for the Bloomberg newswire. It hardly seems a sackable offence, let alone a capital one. In the hands of the Ministry of State Security, it was twisted into an espionage case; any and all of Cheng's contacts with business figures, diplomats and politicians were trawled through to find anything remotely incriminating. It was all a pretext: the ministry had her and others under surveillance shortly after the Australian government demanded an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the outside, we knew more was going on; trade restrictions on Australian exports, journalists expelled from the country. Now we have Cheng's view from the inside. 'This is not hostage diplomacy,' one of Cheng's interrogators tells her early on with a smirk, confirmation served in the form of a denial. Only later did Cheng come to realise her part in a game of 'human chess' where people are locked up for diplomatic gain. Cheng's memoir peels away like an onion of oblivion, as each chapter explores how she was so wronged for so long. She was kept in the dark about her case, coerced into accepting a prison term and mistreated in myriad ways from blunt to subtle. Through it all, Cheng managed to keep her humanity and strength intact, found unlikely friends and allies, and thought desperately of her children, partner, parents and the diplomats who worked to free her.
The Age
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
The TV star who would make the ideal Beijing cellmate
MEMOIR Cheng Lei: A memoir of freedom Harper Collins, $35.99 Not that it's anyone's Plan A, but if you had to be locked up in Beijing you could do worse than having Cheng Lei as a cellmate. She'd be good company, if her memoir recounting her three years at the mercy of China's justice system is anything to go by. And she can fashion a birthday cake out of buns and some leftover snacks. Her creativity and resilience in the face of adversity are admirable, but the tragedy of Cheng's three years in detention is that she should never have endured them. The Chinese-Australian TV presenter's crime, as she describes it, was texting the government's economic growth targets to a friend at another news organisation seven minutes before an embargo she was oblivious to. That the premier did not set a growth target was the news, an understandable choice given the COVID-19 pandemic but a break from decades of precedent. Eight words were sent at 7.23am, from the host of a business program on the state-run CGTN network to a reporter for the Bloomberg newswire. It hardly seems a sackable offence, let alone a capital one. In the hands of the Ministry of State Security, it was twisted into an espionage case; any and all of Cheng's contacts with business figures, diplomats and politicians were trawled through to find anything remotely incriminating. It was all a pretext: the ministry had her and others under surveillance shortly after the Australian government demanded an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the outside, we knew more was going on; trade restrictions on Australian exports, journalists expelled from the country. Now we have Cheng's view from the inside. 'This is not hostage diplomacy,' one of Cheng's interrogators tells her early on with a smirk, confirmation served in the form of a denial. Only later did Cheng come to realise her part in a game of 'human chess' where people are locked up for diplomatic gain. Cheng's memoir peels away like an onion of oblivion, as each chapter explores how she was so wronged for so long. She was kept in the dark about her case, coerced into accepting a prison term and mistreated in myriad ways from blunt to subtle. Through it all, Cheng managed to keep her humanity and strength intact, found unlikely friends and allies, and thought desperately of her children, partner, parents and the diplomats who worked to free her.
The Advertiser
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Reporter's prison torture cost of political posturing
When leaving a Chinese prison after more than three years inside, Cheng Lei was warned by a guard not to write about her experience. The warning turned out to be futile, with the Chinese-Australian broadcaster launching her book, A Memoir of Freedom, to document her time on espionage charges. Lei was the real-life chess piece in a volatile bilateral relationship between Australia and China, with her fate influenced by political posturing. When then-foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, it set in motion a series of events leading to Lei's arrest on trumped-up spying charges. "On April 23, China starts surveilling Australians in China, myself included, (and I only discovered this) a year and a half later," Lei said at her book launch on Tuesday. Breaking an embargo by seven minutes was the crime that exposed Lei to the wrath of Chinese authorities. But it was Australia's deteriorating relationship with China under the coalition government that may have been the determining factor in the severity of her punishment. The journalist, then working for China's state broadcaster, believes she was the victim of a "hostage-taking" due to the fracturing of the relationship between the two countries, immediately understanding the severity of her plight. "Very early on in the piece I understood that, in the words of some of my friends, I was f***ed," Lei said on Tuesday. It was only the change to Anthony Albanese's Labor government in 2022 where she saw an increase in privileges inside detention. Crucially, a meeting between the prime minister and Chinese president Xi Jinping was followed by Lei hearing her children's voices for the first time in years. "After that election in 2022, things began to look brighter - I got one phone call with my kids," she said. Lei initially feared public outcry at home about her detention could lead to further torture and backlash inside the prison run by China's secretive Ministry of State Security. Instead, the now-Sky News presenter says increased publicity led to guards treating her more carefully, "if not better". "Thanks to ordinary Australians, thanks to my media peers that kept my story alive, that public pressure led to more political motivation," she said. Despite her ordeal at the hands of the Chinese state, Lei is certain more reporting on China and its Australian diaspora is critical to understand the nuances of Australia's largest trading partner. "There is this vast gulf of lack of understanding between mainstream Australian society and the diaspora, and China," she said. "I don't think (the Australian media) even run stories about China or Chinese Australians, and that needs to change." When leaving a Chinese prison after more than three years inside, Cheng Lei was warned by a guard not to write about her experience. The warning turned out to be futile, with the Chinese-Australian broadcaster launching her book, A Memoir of Freedom, to document her time on espionage charges. Lei was the real-life chess piece in a volatile bilateral relationship between Australia and China, with her fate influenced by political posturing. When then-foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, it set in motion a series of events leading to Lei's arrest on trumped-up spying charges. "On April 23, China starts surveilling Australians in China, myself included, (and I only discovered this) a year and a half later," Lei said at her book launch on Tuesday. Breaking an embargo by seven minutes was the crime that exposed Lei to the wrath of Chinese authorities. But it was Australia's deteriorating relationship with China under the coalition government that may have been the determining factor in the severity of her punishment. The journalist, then working for China's state broadcaster, believes she was the victim of a "hostage-taking" due to the fracturing of the relationship between the two countries, immediately understanding the severity of her plight. "Very early on in the piece I understood that, in the words of some of my friends, I was f***ed," Lei said on Tuesday. It was only the change to Anthony Albanese's Labor government in 2022 where she saw an increase in privileges inside detention. Crucially, a meeting between the prime minister and Chinese president Xi Jinping was followed by Lei hearing her children's voices for the first time in years. "After that election in 2022, things began to look brighter - I got one phone call with my kids," she said. Lei initially feared public outcry at home about her detention could lead to further torture and backlash inside the prison run by China's secretive Ministry of State Security. Instead, the now-Sky News presenter says increased publicity led to guards treating her more carefully, "if not better". "Thanks to ordinary Australians, thanks to my media peers that kept my story alive, that public pressure led to more political motivation," she said. Despite her ordeal at the hands of the Chinese state, Lei is certain more reporting on China and its Australian diaspora is critical to understand the nuances of Australia's largest trading partner. "There is this vast gulf of lack of understanding between mainstream Australian society and the diaspora, and China," she said. "I don't think (the Australian media) even run stories about China or Chinese Australians, and that needs to change." When leaving a Chinese prison after more than three years inside, Cheng Lei was warned by a guard not to write about her experience. The warning turned out to be futile, with the Chinese-Australian broadcaster launching her book, A Memoir of Freedom, to document her time on espionage charges. Lei was the real-life chess piece in a volatile bilateral relationship between Australia and China, with her fate influenced by political posturing. When then-foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, it set in motion a series of events leading to Lei's arrest on trumped-up spying charges. "On April 23, China starts surveilling Australians in China, myself included, (and I only discovered this) a year and a half later," Lei said at her book launch on Tuesday. Breaking an embargo by seven minutes was the crime that exposed Lei to the wrath of Chinese authorities. But it was Australia's deteriorating relationship with China under the coalition government that may have been the determining factor in the severity of her punishment. The journalist, then working for China's state broadcaster, believes she was the victim of a "hostage-taking" due to the fracturing of the relationship between the two countries, immediately understanding the severity of her plight. "Very early on in the piece I understood that, in the words of some of my friends, I was f***ed," Lei said on Tuesday. It was only the change to Anthony Albanese's Labor government in 2022 where she saw an increase in privileges inside detention. Crucially, a meeting between the prime minister and Chinese president Xi Jinping was followed by Lei hearing her children's voices for the first time in years. "After that election in 2022, things began to look brighter - I got one phone call with my kids," she said. Lei initially feared public outcry at home about her detention could lead to further torture and backlash inside the prison run by China's secretive Ministry of State Security. Instead, the now-Sky News presenter says increased publicity led to guards treating her more carefully, "if not better". "Thanks to ordinary Australians, thanks to my media peers that kept my story alive, that public pressure led to more political motivation," she said. Despite her ordeal at the hands of the Chinese state, Lei is certain more reporting on China and its Australian diaspora is critical to understand the nuances of Australia's largest trading partner. "There is this vast gulf of lack of understanding between mainstream Australian society and the diaspora, and China," she said. "I don't think (the Australian media) even run stories about China or Chinese Australians, and that needs to change." When leaving a Chinese prison after more than three years inside, Cheng Lei was warned by a guard not to write about her experience. The warning turned out to be futile, with the Chinese-Australian broadcaster launching her book, A Memoir of Freedom, to document her time on espionage charges. Lei was the real-life chess piece in a volatile bilateral relationship between Australia and China, with her fate influenced by political posturing. When then-foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, it set in motion a series of events leading to Lei's arrest on trumped-up spying charges. "On April 23, China starts surveilling Australians in China, myself included, (and I only discovered this) a year and a half later," Lei said at her book launch on Tuesday. Breaking an embargo by seven minutes was the crime that exposed Lei to the wrath of Chinese authorities. But it was Australia's deteriorating relationship with China under the coalition government that may have been the determining factor in the severity of her punishment. The journalist, then working for China's state broadcaster, believes she was the victim of a "hostage-taking" due to the fracturing of the relationship between the two countries, immediately understanding the severity of her plight. "Very early on in the piece I understood that, in the words of some of my friends, I was f***ed," Lei said on Tuesday. It was only the change to Anthony Albanese's Labor government in 2022 where she saw an increase in privileges inside detention. Crucially, a meeting between the prime minister and Chinese president Xi Jinping was followed by Lei hearing her children's voices for the first time in years. "After that election in 2022, things began to look brighter - I got one phone call with my kids," she said. Lei initially feared public outcry at home about her detention could lead to further torture and backlash inside the prison run by China's secretive Ministry of State Security. Instead, the now-Sky News presenter says increased publicity led to guards treating her more carefully, "if not better". "Thanks to ordinary Australians, thanks to my media peers that kept my story alive, that public pressure led to more political motivation," she said. Despite her ordeal at the hands of the Chinese state, Lei is certain more reporting on China and its Australian diaspora is critical to understand the nuances of Australia's largest trading partner. "There is this vast gulf of lack of understanding between mainstream Australian society and the diaspora, and China," she said. "I don't think (the Australian media) even run stories about China or Chinese Australians, and that needs to change."
Perth Now
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Reporter's prison torture cost of political posturing
When leaving a Chinese prison after more than three years inside, Cheng Lei was warned by a guard not to write about her experience. The warning turned out to be futile, with the Chinese-Australian broadcaster launching her book, A Memoir of Freedom, to document her time on espionage charges. Lei was the real-life chess piece in a volatile bilateral relationship between Australia and China, with her fate influenced by political posturing. When then-foreign affairs minister Marise Payne called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 on April 19, 2020, it set in motion a series of events leading to Lei's arrest on trumped-up spying charges. "On April 23, China starts surveilling Australians in China, myself included, (and I only discovered this) a year and a half later," Lei said at her book launch on Tuesday. Breaking an embargo by seven minutes was the crime that exposed Lei to the wrath of Chinese authorities. But it was Australia's deteriorating relationship with China under the coalition government that may have been the determining factor in the severity of her punishment. The journalist, then working for China's state broadcaster, believes she was the victim of a "hostage-taking" due to the fracturing of the relationship between the two countries, immediately understanding the severity of her plight. "Very early on in the piece I understood that, in the words of some of my friends, I was f***ed," Lei said on Tuesday. It was only the change to Anthony Albanese's Labor government in 2022 where she saw an increase in privileges inside detention. Crucially, a meeting between the prime minister and Chinese president Xi Jinping was followed by Lei hearing her children's voices for the first time in years. "After that election in 2022, things began to look brighter - I got one phone call with my kids," she said. Lei initially feared public outcry at home about her detention could lead to further torture and backlash inside the prison run by China's secretive Ministry of State Security. Instead, the now-Sky News presenter says increased publicity led to guards treating her more carefully, "if not better". "Thanks to ordinary Australians, thanks to my media peers that kept my story alive, that public pressure led to more political motivation," she said. Despite her ordeal at the hands of the Chinese state, Lei is certain more reporting on China and its Australian diaspora is critical to understand the nuances of Australia's largest trading partner. "There is this vast gulf of lack of understanding between mainstream Australian society and the diaspora, and China," she said. "I don't think (the Australian media) even run stories about China or Chinese Australians, and that needs to change."
