Australian journalist Cheng Lei speaks after release from China

The Australian journalist spent three years in prison in China over allegations she was supplying state secrets overseas.

Journalist Cheng Lei, who was released from prison in China after three years, has given her first interview since returning to Australia.

Ms Cheng, a former TV anchor in China, flew into Melbourne last Wednesday after he detainment in a Beijing jail after she allegedly broke China’s national security laws.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei was detained in China for three years on suspicion of being a spy.

She was met by her family in a tearful reunion, and has since sat down with Sky News Washington Correspondent Annelise Nielsen for her first media engagement since the ordeal.

In a preview for the full interview, to air Tuesday night, Ms Nielsen asks Ms Cheng who she saw first after stepping off the plane.

“My kids running at me, and my mum, who’s aged a lot in the last three years,” Ms Cheng said, becoming emotional.

“And we all just screamed and my mum like wept and I just held onto her.

“I could feel, I could see that she’d lost a lot of weight because of diabetes and having broken her ribs and just having to shoulder the burden mentally and physically, and just be strong for me all that time.”

Sky News Washington Correspondent Annelise Nielsen has interviewed Ms Cheng in her first media appearance since being released by China and touching down in Australia on Wednesday.

The mother-of-two’s trial has been held behind closed doors and the full details of her alleged offences have been kept opaque.

Ms Neilsen is a friend and former colleague of Ms Cheng’s, who has actively advocated and campaigned for her release for the past three years.

The full interview will be broadcast 7pm AEDT Tuesday during Sky News’ The Bolt Report.