Australian Prime Minister Albanis urged the Chinese government to improve the treatment of Australian reporter Cheng Lei who had been detained for two years, including allowing her to contact her children.
According to Reuters, Albanis told reporters on Wednesday (September 7) that "Cheng Lei should be able to contact her family, and we have a strong view of her treatment ...... The Chinese government needs to do better. "
Earlier, the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, accepted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs program 7.30 on Tuesday (6th), saying that he personally expressed sympathy for such a difficult situation to face Chenglei's family.
Xiao Qian also said that although he could not interfere with the legal lawsuit in China, as an ambassador, he was trying to provide more convenient visit to his relatives based on "humanitarianism".
Cheng Lei was born in Hunan Province, China. He moved to Australia with his parents during his childhood and joined Australia.She later joined the TV news industry and served as a reporter from the National Broadcasting Corporation Business Channel (CNBC). In 2012, she returned to China as an anchor of the Global Television Network English Channel (CGTN). She has interviewed the world -renowned entrepreneurs many times.
Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese officials in September 2020. At first, he was banned from contacting the lawyer. Six months later, he was officially arrested on the grounds that he was suspected of hazarding China's national security activities.
In March of this year, Cheng Lei was still waiting for the verdict after he was tried in the Beijing court.Australian consular officials were banned from participating in the trial; Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin once responded that according to relevant Chinese law, cases related to state secrets were not publicly tried, and no one could listen to it.
