China Arrests Australian CGTN Host Cheng Lei On Suspicion Of ‘Illegal Disclosing State Secrets Abroad’

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“The Chinese authorities have reported that Ms. Cheng has been arrested on suspicion of illegally disclosing state secrets abroad,” Payne said, adding that “the Australian government has regularly expressed its serious concerns about Ms. Cheng’s detention at a high level,” among other things about her well-being and Continuing. ”

Australian consular officers have visited Cheng regularly since she was detained, most recently on January 27, 2021.

Cheng was a business anchor at CGTN, the international arm of China’s state broadcaster CCTV, which has since dropped all references to her from its website and social media.

According to a profile of her that has now been removed, the Australian journalist joined the Beijing-based broadcaster in 2012, after a nine-year spell with the US financial news network CNBC. She was one of the main anchors of CGTN, leading the daily “Global Business” show, conducting high-profile interviews, as well as driving “content innovation” and participating in special projects.

In her spare time, Cheng has been active in the Australian community in Beijing, attending events at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and acting as an “alumni ambassador” for the country’s embassy.

Her latest post on WeChat, the Chinese social networking app, showed her at the opening of a Shake Shack outlet in Beijing on Aug. 12, the first restaurant to be opened in China by the US chain. Posing in a bright green dress, Cheng captioned the photos with the hashtag ‘make shakes not war’.

When asked about Cheng’s detention last year, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “China is a country under the rule of law and we will act in accordance with the law.”

Cheng’s original detention came amid rapidly deteriorating ties between Canberra and Beijing. After Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China turned to trade, hitting products with tariffs and blocking acquisitions by Australian companies.

Shortly after Cheng was detained, two Australian journalists working in China fled the country after authorities tried to question them on national security grounds, leaving the Australian media to work without journalists in China for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Bill Birtles, Beijing correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and Mike Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review (AFR), were told they were “interested in an investigation” of Cheng. Both sought the protection of consular officers and were eventually able to leave China after a five-day diplomatic standoff.

In an exclusive report on Monday, Birtles quoted Cheng’s relatives in Australia as saying they didn’t know why they should have been detained.

“I don’t think she would have deliberately done anything to harm national security,” Louisa Wen, Cheng’s niece and family spokeswoman, told the ABC. “We don’t know if she just got caught up in something she didn’t realize herself.”

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