Shocking images of the Beijing apartment belonging to Australian woman Cheng Lei have been released to the world, more than two years after she was arrested and put into one of China’s notorious black jails on spurious national security charges.

The photos are just one of the revelations of The Daily Telegraph’s new film, Disappeared: The Cheng Lei Story, which also features harrowing details about how the journalist has been held since her arrest – including six months spent in the notorious black jails of China’s secretive Ministry of State Security.

According to reports on her condition filed by embassy officials, Cheng Lei has often been escorted to monthly 30-minute videoconferences wearing a blindfold and handcuffs.

Find out about Cheng Lei’s appalling prison conditions and hear from her friends, co-workers, and partner, who were shocked to learn she had disappeared – and how they feared they might be next.

“I’m not valueless”: Cheng Lei’s vow of hope

Australian woman Cheng Lei, who has been held in a Chinese jail for more than two years on national ­security charges, fears her eyesight has deteriorated because she has spent so long in a tiny cell.

The Daily Telegraph understands that Ms Cheng advised Australian consular officials of her concerns in a recent visit, saying that her eyesight had deteriorated and that she was struggling to read subtitles when watching TV. She said this was ­because she spent so much time in her cell, meaning her eye muscles had become weak.

In the past two years she has had very little time in open space and that while she could request glasses, she said it would be a hassle.

The revelation comes as The Daily Telegraph launches its new ­documentary, Disappeared: The Cheng Lei Story, which provides ­unprecedented details about Ms Cheng’s confinement, her state of mind, how she gets through the day, and what happened the day she was ­arrested by China’s secretive Ministry for State Security.

It can also be revealed that Ms Cheng has been teaching her cellmates English using Shakespeare, Desperate Housewives, and the lyrics to classic ’80s hits including Lady in Red and Every Breath You Take, and that she hummed Advance Australia Fair under her breath to celebrate Australia Day and read Peter Carey’s book about Ned Kelly, saying that it reminded her of “quintessentially Australian characteristics” like mateship and a fair go.

Ms Cheng has also been forced to insert sanitary pads into her shoes ­because her footwear is inadequate, and she loves to help her cellmates, saying: “I can see how much of a ­difference I am making to their lives. This is uplifting for me. I’m not wasting time, and I’m not valueless.”

The details of her conditions come as The Daily Telegraph can reveal drawings by her two children, who are living in Melbourne, pleading for her to come home more than two years after her arrest and trial on national security charges.

The Daily Telegraph can also ­reveal more of the conditions in which Ms Cheng is being held and ­details about the tiny cell she shares with as many as three other prisoners.

“When she was first taken she was put into something called RSDL – Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location – which sounds like it could be a sort of hotel house arrest kind of thing but it’s not,” her partner Nick Coyle said.

Ms Cheng is believed to have spent the first six months of her captivity in RSDL at a secret police compound in Beijing, which human rights groups say have been used as part of China’s “black jail” system since at least 2013.

Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who has been held on espionage charges in China since 2019, has said that he was tortured by Chinese authorities while in an RSDL facility.

“The first six months, when I was in RSDL, was a really bad period. They tortured me,” he said in a ­message sent from detention after his 2021 trial.

Since leaving the RSDL system, it is understood that Ms Cheng has been held in a small cell not much larger than 3m by 3m with as many as three other female prisoners, with a toilet and one bed between them to take turns sleeping.

There have also been concerns that Ms Cheng has not been receiving enough quality food to keep her health up.

Mr Coyle said that more than two years into her detention it was time for her case to be dealt with “compassionately” and that it was time for her to be reunited with her two children, aged 11 and 13, currently living with a grandparent in Melbourne.

In heartbreaking letters to their mother read out by Mr Coyle and other supporters of Ms Cheng, her ­children reveal news about school, the importance of staying strong, and wishes that she might be allowed to come home.

“Dear mum, I started Year 7 today and think about you every day,” reads one letter.

“I wish you were here, I miss your voice and your encouragement.”

Another simply says they will be strong for their mother.

“Not a single day goes by without me missing the best mum in the whole world,” it reads. “I will be strong, just like you taught me, please come home soon, I love you.”