Cheng Lei’s partner says Australia must put her at the centre of negotiations with China

Singapore: The partner of detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei has urged the Labor government to put her case at the centre of diplomatic negotiations with China.

Nick Coyle, the executive director of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce, said that now was the time to push Chinese authorities to end Lei’s two-year-long detention on vague national security charges.

Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for China’s state media, has been detained since August 2020.Credit: Getty

“I would hope that Senator [Foreign Minister] Penny Wong and [Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese make Cheng Lei’s case front and centre of any engagement,” Coyle said.

“An opportunity exists with the incoming government, positive messages coming from both sides and the meeting between [Richard] Marles and General Wei over in Singapore. Hopefully, the chance of finding a decent solution is better than it was a couple of months ago.”

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Cheng’s close friend, Haze Fan, was released in January. However, the Chinese reporter’s colleagues at Bloomberg have been unable to contact her since. It remains unclear if the cases are linked but news of Fan’s release has also fuelled hopes of a breakthrough in Cheng’s case.

“We really have no idea whether the two cases are related or not,” said Coyle.

Cheng Lei’s partner Nick Coyle (right) appears on CGTN, the Chinese state TV network that Cheng worked for. Credit: CGTN

Coyle said the treatment of Cheng had been “frankly unacceptable”. Chinese authorities have cut off Cheng’s monthly contact visits this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, despite the visits being conducted remotely. The video calls were one of the few ways Cheng had of obtaining information about the outside world, developments in her case, or hopes for her release.

“The monthly consular visits have been absolutely critical to her mental and psychological well-being,” he said.

Coyle said Cheng has also faced food shortages while in prison, and was surviving on white rice, raising concerns about her physical health.

The 47-year-old mother of two remains unaware of the specific allegations against her. The Australian government has been told that they involve supplying state secrets, but no other details have been released since her closed-door trial in March.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Cheng was suspected of providing “state secrets to foreign forces”. “Therefore, holding a closed-door trial by the relevant court is legitimate, lawful, and beyond reproach,” he said after the hearing. “China is a country under rule of law.”

The state TV anchor, who was close to the Australian business community in Beijing, became increasingly critical of China’s handling of COVID-19 in Facebook posts to friends in early 2020 but had stuck to China’s censorship guidelines while on air.

Cheng is one of two Australians detained in China on national security charges. Her Chinese-Australian compatriot Dr Yang Hengjun has also been stuck in jail for three years on vague claims of espionage. The pro-democracy writer has faced torture and interrogations to extract a confession but has repeatedly and publicly maintained his innocence.

“I will not give in under any pressure from any forces,” Yang said in a message dictated in January to his wife Yuan Xiaoliang, lawyers and friends. “I want the Chinese government to open my case and publish it, to provide details to the world, the Australian government and the country.”

Both cases have been linked to the deteriorating relationship between Australia and China under the Coalition government, with little substantial evidence presented of crimes that would warrant the three years to life in jail the pair are facing. The Chinese legal system has a conviction rate of 99 per cent.

Yang’s friend, University of Technology Sydney academic Dr Feng Chongyi, said getting Yang and Cheng out of detention should be the government’s priority. “It is their duty,” he said. “It will look silly to the entire world if they do not raise this issue when they have diplomatic discussions. This should be their priority issue if the Chinese side wants to resume contact in any way.”

Albanese has repeatedly insisted that $20 billion in trade sanctions against Australia must be removed if the relationship is to improve but has not mentioned Yang and Cheng since he became prime minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn this week on whether he raised the cases directly with Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in Singapore. The discussion was the first ministerial-level meeting between the two countries in almost three years, fuelling hopes of a resumption of diplomatic dialogue between Canberra and Beijing.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe met in Singapore.Credit: AP

“We’ve got a lot of issues to work through and this is still just the first step, but yes, it’s definitely positive,” Marles said.

Coyle told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that he wanted Cheng’s case to be raised at the highest levels. “You would hope there is an opportunity for her to get reunited with her kids,” he said.

The two young children have been in Melbourne since she was first detained in August 2020. “They are doing the best they can, but at the end of the day, they need their mum back,” Coyle said.

Coyle has requested a meeting with Wong and Albanese within weeks to push for Cheng’s release

“The next steps will be to meet with Senator Wong and hopefully the PM and ensure that her case has given the appropriate level of urgency in any bilateral discussions,” he said. “I’ve been in touch with their office, and they’ve been responsive, which is a good start.”

Cheng’s verdict and sentence are expected to be handed down later this year.

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