An Australian journalist jailed in China says she sees sunlight “only 10 hours a year” and misses her children.
In 1987, Cheng Lei and her family immigrated from China to Australia when she was only 10 and became Australian citizens. Later, Cheng returned to China and worked as an anchor at China’s state-run English-language television station, CGTN, in Beijing. Three years ago this week, on Aug. 13, 2020, Cheng “disappeared” from the public eye.
Before her “disappearance,” the Australian government warned its citizens in China of the risk of arbitrary detention and an exit ban because Beijing was upset about Canberra’s push to uncover Covid’s origin through the World Health Organization (WHO). Beijing dismissed the Australian warning as disinformation even though China is known to deploy “hostage diplomacy” to silence critics and coerce other nations to fall into its line. A few weeks after Cheng’s “disappearance,” two Australian journalists fled China, fearing for their safety. The tale of their escape reads like a script for a “Bourne Supremacy”-type thriller.
When Cheng was arrested, her children were 9 and 11. Now they are 11 and 14 and haven’t seen their mother for three years. Cheng recently “wrote” an open letter to her family and Australia, the country she has called home since she was a teenager. Her love letter was dictated through Australian diplomats in China, who see her once a month. It’s the first time she’s spoken up since her “disappearance” in 2020.
In her letter, Cheng described her perilous situation in jail, including, “I haven’t seen a
