It has been over a year since Chinese Australian journalist for CGTN Cheng Lei was detained in China on suspicion of supplying state secrets overseas. Cheng was a high profile presenter for the Chinese state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN). Friends and family are calling for her release and this case has piqued interest in advocating for her release from Canberra all the way to Washington D.C. Here is more on the case (via ABC News):
“Cheng’s arrest took place in the context of a deteriorating relationship between China and Australia, involving trade disputes and tensions over Canberra’s calls for an investigation over the origins into COVID-19.”
It has also been reported by ABC News that current and former employees of CGTN were requested to sign a “non-disclosure undertaking” (NDU) to sign, which considered “any and all non-public data or information of CGTN” as “confidential”.
Australian officials in China have met with Cheng, with the last meeting being on July 26.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne stated that the Government is concerned over Cheng’s detention (via ABC News):
“We are seriously concerned about Ms Cheng’s detention and welfare and has regularly raised these issues at senior levels”.
“We are particularly concerned that one year into her detention, there remains a lack of transparency about the reasons for Ms Cheng’s detention,”
To be honest, The Australian Government is to blame for most of what has happened, putting the deterioration of diplomatic relations with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as their main goal, and pushing a lot of unsubstantiated accusations on the actions of CCP and of Chinese Australians into the public spotlight. We will post updates when more of this situation gets released.
Images via ABC News