‘Holding my kids in the spring sunshine’: Cheng Lei home after release from Chinese jail

Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist detained on national security charges by China, has returned to Australia, ending a three-year ordeal that put her at the centre of a bitter diplomatic dispute between Canberra and Beijing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Cheng, a Melbourne mother of two, was elated to be home after years of negotiations with Chinese officials secured her release.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei was ‘elated’ to return home after three years in detention in China.

“Tight hugs, teary screams, holding my kids in the spring sunshine. Trees shimmy from the breeze,” 48-year-old Cheng said in a statement after arriving home on Wednesday.

“I can see the entirety of the sky now! Thank you Aussies.”

Albanese confirmed that Cheng was met at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

“Her return brings an end to a very difficult few years for her family,” Albanese said. “The government has been seeking this for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends but by all Australians.”

Cheng’s release removes a key hurdle from Albanese’s visit to Beijing after years of hostility between Australia and its largest trading partner. “It will be this year,” he said, although he said the details of the visit would be announced “on his own timetable”.

Albanese will travel to the United States for three days from October 23 to attend a state dinner in his honour at the White House, and to the Pacific Islands Forum on November 8, which allows time for the prime minister to potentially visit Beijing around the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s prime ministerial visit in 1973.

Cheng, a journalist with the Chinese state TV network CGTN, was detained in August 2020 at the height of tensions between Australia and China over human rights, trade disputes and COVID, leading her supporters to claim that she was a victim of arbitrary detention.

The University of Queensland graduate, who moved to Australia from China when she was 10, endured months of solitary isolation designed to extract a confession in the Chinese legal system, before being moved to a prison that allowed her only 10 hours of sunlight a year.

Australian authorities and Cheng’s family remained largely unaware of the specific charges against her throughout her imprisonment. Fellow Australian, writer Yang Hengjun, is still behind bars in Beijing on vague espionage charges.

“Her matter was concluded through the legal processes in China,” Albanese said. “We continue to advocate for Dr Yang’s interests, rights and wellbeing with Chinese authorities at all levels.”

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Cheng had been sentenced to two years and 11 months in jail.

“After she served the sentence, she was released,” said spokesman Wang Wenbin. “I’d like to stress that the Judicial Department handed down this sentence in accordance to law.”

Chinese state media reported late on Wednesday that Cheng had been sentenced for breaching her employment contract and illegally providing state secrets to a foreign country.

“In May 2020, Cheng Lei was coaxed by personnel from an overseas agency, violated the confidentiality clause signed with the employing unit, and illegally provided the state secrets she mastered at work to the overseas agency through her mobile phone,” Xinhua reported.

Albanese said he had raised Cheng’s case at a formal meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Delhi at the G20 in September.

Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was not allowed to enter the court for Cheng’s trial in Beijing.Credit: Getty Images

“We sat next to each other at the G20 at a formal dinner as well. It was an opportunity in a less formal way to be able to have discussions and dialogue,” he said. “Dialogue is always a good idea. Even with people who you have disagreements with.”

Cheng’s sentencing had been delayed at least six times since her one-day closed-door trial last year. Australian officials were barred from attending the hearing.

“Our focus remains on her interests and welfare,” said Albanese. “We are asking for her privacy and that of her family to be respected at this time as she adjusts to what has obviously been a very difficult and traumatic period for her in her life.”

In August, Cheng released a letter from jail revealing her hopes for reuniting with her children in Melbourne and her memories of Australia.

“I haven’t seen a tree in three years,” she said. “This is a love letter to 25 million people and 7 million square kilometres of land, abundant nature, beauty and space.”

Albanese said he had spoken to Cheng about her letter once she had returned to Melbourne.

“I spoke to her about the recent message she made to the Australian people. She is a very strong and resilient person,” he said.

Cheng’s partner, Nick Coyle, who has not commented publicly since her release, said in August her family had endured an endless cycle of uncertainty.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei and her partner, Nick Coyle.Credit: The Age/ Getty Images

“She has missed her daughter going to high school. Her parents aren’t getting any younger and Lei is their only child. So time is getting more and more precious,” he said.

“It’s the big things and all those little things that we take for granted about life in Australia.”

In a joint statement, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his foreign affairs spokesman, Simon Birmingham, welcomed the news of Cheng’s safe return.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and journalist Cheng Lei embrace as she returns to Australia.

“Ms Cheng’s release and return home to her children and partner Nick Coyle will be a moment of great relief and joy to them,” the statement said.

“We thank all of those who have worked tirelessly over three years to secure this outcome and acknowledge everyone who has advocated for Ms Cheng’s release. Particular acknowledgement is owed to Australia’s Ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, along with many DFAT officers and consular officials.”

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