China Journalist Detention
China detains Australian journalist
Beijing/UNI: The Australian partner of a journalist who has been detained in China for nearly two years said Thursday that she is being denied the chance to speak with her family and consular staff, and her health is declining due to a poor prison diet, New York Post reported Thursday.
Journalist Cheng Lei, an Australian who was born in China, was detained in August 2020 on charges of of sharing state secrets. She was tried in March, in Beijing, but Australian diplomats weren’t allowed inside the courtroom.
Since the trial, Chinese authorities have deferred announcing a verdict. Cheng, 46, had worked as a business journalist for Chinese state broadcaster China Global Television Network.
Speaking about the case publicly for the first time in an interview with Australia’s Sky News, Cheng’s partner, Nick Coyle, said he was worried “big time” for her health and about the lack of access she was getting to her family and Australian consular staff.
Coyle said that her regular 30-minute consular video meetings have been suspended indefinitely, apparently due to China’s tough Covid-19 restrictions.
Cheng is the mother of two children who live in Australia, and her parents also live in Australia.
Coyle worked as chief executive of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce in Beijing before leaving China due to fears he had for his safety.
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