English lessons and ‘sanitary pads in my shoes’: Inside Aussie Cheng Lei’s prison life

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Horrific details of jailed Aussie mum Cheng Lei’s life in a Beijing prison have been revealed in consular diaries and love letters sent home.

For the first time, The Daily Telegraph can reveal exclusive details of Australian woman Cheng Lei’s life in a Beijing prison.

The details, contained in consular reports prepared by Australian embassy officials after month visits, give an unprecedented picture of life behind bars in China and detail the ways Cheng Lei gets through her days by teaching English and teaching them about Australian culture including sauvignon blanc and Western TV shows like Desperate Housewives.

In a report of a consular visit which took place just after Australia Day, 2022, Cheng Lei also revealed that on January 26 she hummed the national anthem while reflecting on how much she missed Australia.

“On Australia Day, I hummed the national anthem under my breath and shared Australian trivia with my cellmates,” she told Australian officials.

“I also finished Peter Carey’s book about Ned Kelly. It reminded me of quintessentially Australian characteristics. Toughness. Fair-go. Mateship. Love for wide open spaces and freedom,” she said.

Details of Cheng Lei’s imprisonment have been revealed in her own words for the first time.

In the same report Cheng Lei revealed that she was teaching English to her cellmates.

“My English as a Second Language career is flourishing.”

“I have vocabulary lists and wrote mock up menus and other things to teach my cellmates how to order things like sauvignon blanc.”

“I have a little book of Shakespeare and I’m using that to teach them how to role play.

“I also use a Desperate Housewives book which I teach them to act out,” she told officials.

But, she confessed when reflecting on teaching acting and English in the confines of her cell, “it’s difficult.”

The Ministry of State Security facility in Beijing where Cheng Lei is believed to be being held.

Despite this, Cheng Lei said she kept a positive attitude.

“With my cellmates, 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.”

Cheng Lei also asked for song lyrics to be sent to her to teach her cellmates.

“I’m teaching my cellmates to sing. I’ve taught them Every Breath You Take, Lady in Red, Christmas songs and others. Nine all together. I want to teach them more,” she told officials.

The report also detailed something of the conditions under which she is being kept.

For this meeting, she was brought in to the room where she would meet Australian officials without any restraints, though in previous meetings she had been brought in wearing handcuffs and blindfolds.

Australian Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher was denied entry to the trial of Cheng Lei, in Beijing on March 31, 2022. Picture: Noel Celis / AFP

At the January meeting, she revelad that her heath was good though she had been suffering digestion problems.

She also said she was trying to make the most of her prison diet.

“Ms Cheng advised that the food was marginally better than before and that she had been served lean pork almost every day and egg dishes twice a week,” the report read.

“She added that during Chinese New Year she would be able to buy packages of beef, peanuts, and snickers bars.”

Cheng Lei also said she was planning to prepare a small feast for Chinese New Year with food she’d saved up, saying she might “freeze a banana by leaving it outside in the cold. It might make it taste like ice-cream.”

To celebrate the holiday, according to the report, “Ms Cheng said that over the Chinese New Year period they would be allowed to watch more TV and hopefully the Winter Olympic Games. Ms Cheng commented that she had interviewed Scotty James, Olympic snowboarder, and would be rooting for him at the Games.”

Cheng Lei also sent a heartfelt message to her partner, Nick Coyle, saying that “your letters always make me laugh and love you more.”

Cheng Lei with Nick Coyle – her “knight in shining flip-flops”.

In another more recent consular report, Cheng Lei referred to Mr Coyle as “my knight in shining flip-flops”.

“I can’t say how much your loyalty has meant to me,” she said in January.

Cheng Lei also said that she was allowed books that had passed muster with jail administrators to help her pass the time, but that she had a backlog to get through.

While reporting that she was getting enough food in January, The Daily Telegraph understands that the quantity and quality of food can be quite variable.

More recently she said that “the situation was ok.”

The reports also provide a window into the ways prisoners must make do with what little they have.

Having tried to exercise in her small cell, Cheng Lei found that her prison issue shoes were not up to the task.

“Ms Cheng also advised she had resolved the impact absorption issue with her shoes by placing sanitary pads inside the soles of her shoes,” one report revealed.

CHENG’S OWN WORDS FOR NICK, THE LOVE OF HER LIFE

JANUARY 28, 2022

Dear Nick. Your letters always make me laugh and love you more. When you said “love you shitloads”, I couldn’t help but agree. On gallows humour, when my cellmates and I talk about what we would do to get out … We looked at our feet and I thought, I could do with a fewer number of toes if that meant I could see my family sooner.

Nick Coyle and Cheng Lei at an event in Beijing in 2019.

I love your books … I haven’t read Long Walk to Freedom yet. Without them, I have no new thoughts and inspiration.

For Chinese New Year, I will prepare a feast from my stash of food and maybe freeze a banana by leaving it outside in the cold. It might make it taste like ice cream.

I’m passing on golden hits from the ’80s to my cellmates. Please send me song lyrics to Edelweiss and Auld Lang Syne.

I’m teaching my cellmates to sing. I’ve taught them Every Breath You Take, Lady in Red, Christmas songs and ­others.

My cellmates are so taken by you. Ms Canto now thinks the world of you. Last year, she told me she doubted you would stick around. I can’t say how much your loyalty has meant to me. Your love has lit up this time for me. I’m so corny.

Please write to me with more celebrity gossip and with information about business, sports news, and stuff. Companies which have gone under etc.

Say hi to all my friends.

AUGUST 18, 2022

I spend so much time trying to draft these letters to you. I hope to be able to write to you using pen and paper, when I’ll be in less of a panic.

Send my love to your parents and to your family. I love you.

Sometimes I forget to say that but I know you know it.

Everything you’re doing is amazing. You are my knight in shining flip-flops.

I fantasise about seeing you and talking about everything that has happened.

In quiet moments, I compose love ­messages to you in Italian and German.

I love the book about the brain that changes itself. It shows how resilient our minds can be. I feel strong because of the love I feel for you.

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