Cheng Lei’s pick of university degree was not her own. As a young and dutiful daughter of a dogmatic Chinese father, she did what her dad wanted – commerce. After all, he argued, it would get her a job, unlike journalism which is where her heart yearned.

“Dad said: you are not pretty. You are not blonde. You won’t get a job. Do something employable,” said Cheng, now a Sky News reporter who became a household name when, in 2020, she was locked in a Chinese prison cell for three years accused of stealing state secrets.