Cheng Lei
China has formally arrested an Australian citizen who was previously a news anchor for Chinese state television, raising a case that has contributed to tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
The office of Australian Foreign Secretary Marise Payne arrested Cheng Lei, an Australian-born Australian who recently worked for state broadcaster CGTN, on February 5 in China. Chinese authorities said Cheng was “arrested for illegally providing state secrets abroad”, the statement said.
China said in September that Cheng ‘suspected of carrying out criminal activities that endanger China’s national security, ”one of the most serious allegations ever made against a foreign journalist in the country.
She was detained in mid-August on the basis of a provision that allows her to be detained for up to six months without charge or access to a lawyer.
Australian embassy officials have visited Cheng six times since her arrest – most recently on January 27 – under a bilateral consular agreement with China, the statement said.
Australia “expressed its serious concern at the detention of Ms Cheng at senior levels, including on her well – being and circumstances of detention,” the statement said. “We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in line with international standards.”
Rising tension
The case came to light amid deteriorating relations between China and Australia, which raised fears that Beijing had targeted Cheng to put pressure on Canberra. Tensions have risen since Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April, a move seen in China as backing US President Donald Trump’s efforts to blame to give the pandemic.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government has imposed tariffs on Australian barley, banned products from a number of meat works and launched an anti-dumping investigation into its wine exports. Yet China remains Australia’s largest trading partner, driven by the country’s appetite for resources such as iron ore and coal.
Cheng has been hosting business shows as a CGTN anchor since 2012 and was known among Beijing’s small circle of diplomats and journalists. She previously served as China correspondent for CNBC, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Queensland, and according to her LinkedIn profile, was an accountant at Cadbury Schweppes.
Cheng’s arrest also coincides with a specific dispute between Australia and China over attempts by each other’s spy agencies to interrogate foreign journalists. China withdrew four state media journalists from Australia after authorities raided their homes, while two Australian correspondents left China after state security agents searched them for questioning.
One of the Australian journalists, Mike Smith of the Australian Financial Review, said in September that Chinese officials had asked him about Cheng, among other things, before he was allowed to leave. Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said separately that the cases of the Australian journalists and Cheng were not related to the raids on the Chinese journalists’ homes.
– Assisted by Jason Scott and James Mayger