Tokyo | Friends and family of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who will mark her 1000th day in detention in Beijing this week, say they are deeply concerned about delays to her case and appealed to the Chinese government for her release.

While there were initial hopes that a thawing of Sino-Australian relations under the Albanese government would pave the way Ms Lei to be reunited with her two children in Australia, there has so far been no significant progress towards securing her freedom.