Release of Australian Journalist Cheng Lei from Detention in China: A Positive Outcome

Australian journalist Cheng Lei has returned home after spending over three years in detention in China. Foreign Minister Penny Wong greeted her at the airport, as announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Cheng Lei was working as a business reporter for CGTN, a state-run English language TV station in China, when she was arrested in August 2020. The authorities accused her of illegally providing state secrets abroad, but her charges were never disclosed, and she was never given a sentence. Upon her release, she was reunited with her two children in Melbourne. Prime Minister Albanese stated that Cheng Lei's return marked the end of a challenging period for her family and expressed a warm welcome on behalf of all Australians. He also mentioned that her case was resolved through legal proceedings in China. During her initial six months of detention, Cheng Lei was held in solitary confinement without any formal charges. In August, she wrote an open letter describing her imprisonment and her longing for the outdoors and nature, as she had been deprived of sunlight and greenery for three years.