Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei detained in China

Chinese-Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei has been detained in China.

Chinese authorities notified the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs she had been arrested on August 14.

Cheng Lei, the Australian anchor for China's government-run English news channel CGTN. Credit: CGTN

The Chinese-born journalist, who graduated from the University of Queensland, worked for five years with Cadbury Schweppes and ExxonMobil in Melbourne and became an Australian citizen before returning to Beijing in 2003.

The high-profile anchor was the China correspondent for US pay TV network CNBC for nine years. Since 2013 she has been a business reporter for Chinese state media network CGTN-News, the English language channel of China Central Television.

Cheng hosted the Australia China Business Awards and was a panellist on ABC's Q&A program in 2014. She has previously led coverage of China's highest profile political event, the National People's Congress.

In 2018, she praised Australia's education system as part of a promotional program run by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"Australian education and Australian cultures and values are all enmeshed together and that means a lot of respect for freedom, a lot of respect for creativity, individuality," she said.

"And I think that has helped me so much in my work. It allows you that freedom to think for yourself, to question even textbooks, even professors, and to judge for yourself, which is critical in journalism."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday night that Australian officials had an initial consular visit with Cheng at a detention facility via video link on August 27.

"[We] will continue to provide assistance and support to her and her family," she said. "Further comment will not be provided owing to the government’s privacy obligations."

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Tuesday that he had been interviewed by Cheng while overseas and felt for her family.

"There is a long history of different consular cases and points of difficulty that we've seen over the years, and so we shouldn't see this as a first or a one-off," he said.

"Obviously it's concerning for her family, and we will provide the assistance that we can."

The ABC reported on Monday that Cheng had not been charged, but was being held under residential surveillance. The detention allows Chinese investigators to detain and question a suspect for up to six months, without access to legal aid. Her online Chinese state media profile was inaccessible on Monday night.

Cheng has two young children staying with family members in Melbourne.

"As a family we are aware of the current situation with regard to Cheng Lei's status as advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)," the family said in a statement to the ABC.

"We are in close consultation with DFAT and doing everything we can as a family to support Cheng Lei."

Cheng's detention comes amid rising diplomatic tension between Australia and China over the coronavirus, Beijing's crackdown in Hong Kong, repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang and incursions into the South China Sea.

Fellow Chinese-Australian Yang Hengjun, a pro-democracy activist who became an Australian citizen in 2002, has spent more than 18 months in jail after being arrested by the Beijing State Security Bureau on suspicion of endangering Chinese national security. There has been no transparency about the specific claims against him.

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