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Australian journalist Cheng back home after China release
Cheng Lei, who was tried in secret on national security charges in March 2022, arrived in Melbourne and has been reunited with her two children and family.
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Australian journalist Cheng Lei poses for a selfie at an unknown location in this undated handout photograph obtained by Reuters on August 11, 2023. (Reuters/Nicholas Coyle)
Australian journalist Cheng Lei returned home on Wednesday after being released by Beijing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Cheng, who was tried in secret on national security charges in March 2022, arrived in Melbourne and has been reunited with her two children and family, Albanese told a news conference.
"[The] government has been seeking this for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends but by all Australians," he said.
Cheng, 48, was a business television anchor for Chinese state television when she was detained in August 2020 for allegedly sharing state secrets with another country.
Her first public statement since her arrest came in what she called a "love letter to 25 million people" which was dictated to consular staff during a visit and released by her partner.
"In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year," she wrote.
