China arrests Australian CGTN host Cheng Lei on suspicion of “illegal supply of state secrets abroad”

China arrests Australian CGTN host Cheng Lei on suspicion of “illegal supply of state secrets abroad”

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“Chinese authorities have reported that Ms. Cheng has been arrested on suspicion of illegally providing state secrets abroad,” said Payne, adding that “the Australian government has raised its serious concerns about the detention of Ms. Cheng regularly at higher levels, including about their well-being and conditions of detention. ”

Australian consular officials have been visiting Cheng regularly since she was arrested, most recently on January 27, 2021.

Cheng was a commercial anchor for CGTN, the international arm of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, which has since erased all references to her from its website and social media.

According to a profile that has now been deleted, the Australian journalist joined the Beijing-based broadcaster in 2012, after a nine-year stint on the United States financial news network CNBC. She was one of CGTN’s main anchors, directing the daily program “Global Business”, conducting high-level interviews, in addition to driving “content innovation” and participating in special projects.

In his spare time, Cheng was active in the Australian community in Beijing, participating in events at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and acting as an “alumni ambassador” at 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 August 12, the first restaurant opened in China by the American chain. Posing in a bright green dress, Cheng captioned the photos with the hashtag “make shakes, not war”.

Asked about Cheng’s arrest last year, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “China is a country under the rule of law and we will act according to the law.”

Cheng’s original detention came amid the rapid tightening of ties between Canberra and Beijing. After Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China directed it to trade, charging product fees and blocking acquisitions by Australian companies.

Shortly after Cheng was arrested, two Australian journalists working in China fled the country after officials tried to question them for national security reasons, leaving the Australian media without a journalist working in China for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Bill Birtles, a Beijing correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and Mike Smith, a Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review (AFR), were told they were “people of interest in an investigation” about Cheng. Both sought protection from consular officials and eventually managed to fly out of China after a 5-day diplomatic stalemate.

In an exclusive report on Monday, Birtles quoted relatives from Cheng, Australia, saying they did not know of any reason why they should have been detained.

“I don’t think she would do anything to intentionally undermine national security,” Cheng’s niece Louisa Wen and family spokeswoman told ABC. “We don’t know if she just got involved in something that she didn’t even notice.”

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