Marise Payne justice call for detained journalist Cheng Lei

The Morrison government has told Beijing it expects ‘basic standards of justice’ be applied to the case of detained Australian Cheng Lei.

China TV news anchor and mother of two, Australian Cheng Lei, has been detained by Beijing for one year. Picture: AFP

The Morrison government has told Beijing it expects “basic standards of justice” be applied to the case of Cheng Lei, an Australian single mother of two who on Friday marks one year in detention.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government remained “seriously concerned” about the welfare of the 46-year-old television anchor.

Cheng – one of the highest-profile Australians living in China – was nabbed by secret police in Beijing on August 13, 2020, during the most profound breakdown in the two countries’ bilateral relationship.

“We are particularly concerned that one year into her detention, there remains a lack of transparency about the reasons for Ms Cheng’s detention,” Senator Payne said.

“We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms.”

The first anniversary of the detention of Cheng – the face of ­business news at China Global Television Network, China’s English-language state broadcaster – comes days after Beijing this week demonstrated its preparedness to use its opaque legal system for political punishment.

On Wednesday, Canadian businessman Michael Spavor was sentenced to 11 years after being accused of foreign espionage and the illegal provision of state secrets. The shadowy case against Cheng also concerns state secrets. Beijing has repeatedly linked Spavor’s case – and that of fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat – to an extradition case involving Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

The Global Times, a party controlled tabloid, reported that the verdict “conveyed a signal to other US allies”.

“(T)hey will pay a heavy price if they insist on being the US’ ‘running dogs’ in its anti-China camp and their citizens would face harsh punishment if they commit crimes in China as their nationality is not a talisman,” the Global Times reported, citing state-sanctioned Chinese experts.

Journalists from around the world have joined a petition asking Beijing to allow Cheng to be reunited with her two children, aged 12 and 10. “We are seeking compassion and reason from the Chinese government in dealing with her case,” a group of almost 60 supporters wrote in a letter organised to mark the anniversary of her detention.

The nightmarish treatment of Cheng – who is currently in a Beijing prison cell with two other inmates – has drawn support from across Australia’s media industry. Sky News host Andrew Bolt and The Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine are signatories, along with the ABC’s Laura Tingle and David Speers, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate McClymont and David Crowe, the Guardian’s Katharine Murphy and Amy Remeikis, and The Australian’s Joe Kelly and Adam Creighton.