It has been more than half a month since Australian citizen Cheng Lei, who works for CCTV in China, was arrested by Chinese authorities, but the reason for her arrest is still unknown to the outside world. The Australian government has said it will do its utmost to find out why. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Beijing to provide an immediate explanation.
The Australian government is determined to find out why.
Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Tuesday (Sept. 1) that Australian citizen Cheng Lei has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities, but that Australia has no clue as to the reason for the Chinese move.
The Australian government confirmed Monday that Cheng Lei was arrested two weeks ago in Beijing by authorities. Australian embassy officials in Beijing conducted a “consular visit” to Cheng Lei, who is under “residential surveillance,” via video on August 27.
Cheng Lei is an Australian national and a journalist who has worked in China for some time,” Birmingham told Australia’s Nine Network television on Tuesday. But Birmingham said Canberra did not know why she was being detained by China.
Birmingham said, “At this point, I can very much empathize with her family and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to help her, just as we would do for any Australian in this type of situation.”
He said, “We’re obviously doing everything we can to stay in touch with Ms. Chenglei.” “We will continue …… do our best to provide assistance to Chenglei and her family to help them through this heavy and difficult time.”
Committee to Protect Journalists Seeks Explanation from Beijing
The Committee to Protect Journalists also issued a statement demanding that Chinese authorities provide reasons for detaining or releasing Cheng Lei.
Steven Butler, the group’s Asia program coordinator, said, “China, the country that ranks first in the world for the most imprisoned journalists, must clarify whether Cheng Lei’s detention is related to her media work.”
Cheng Lei used to host a business program on China’s English-language CCTV channel, and was a high-profile host of an English-language program. However, her program has been taken down by this official media website.
Chinese Foreign Ministry: not aware of the situation
Chinese authorities remain silent on Cheng Lei’s case. China’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment or provide further information on the case of Cheng Lei at a regular press conference Tuesday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in response to a reporter’s inquiry about the Cheng Lei case that she had not yet received any information about the case.
Former Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby said that Cheng Lei is a long-time friend and experienced journalist, and that he has been interviewed by Cheng Lei himself many times on her business shows.
Raby said he was shocked by Chenglei’s arrest, as business reporting is generally not politically sensitive.
Reuters quoted the rabbi as saying, “She [Cheng Lei] was somewhat skeptical of some of the Chinese media. But she also speaks just as forcefully for China when foreign reporting on China is misleading or unsubstantiated.”
Australian Foreign Minister Payne also told the media Tuesday afternoon that the Australian government is seeking to understand the reasons for Cheng Lei’s arrest.
Under the procedures of the Chinese system, at this stage of the case there is no need for charges to be brought,” Payne said. But we’re going to continue to seek information about that.”
China retaliates as Australia-China relations deteriorate?
Observers have pointed out that the reasons for China’s arrest of Cheng Lei, while unclear at this point, are likely to be related in some way to the deterioration of relations between Australia and China.
In the wake of the Meng Wanzhou case, for example, relations between Canada and China have deteriorated dramatically. China retaliated by arresting several Canadians and sentencing four to death in order to force Canada to release Meng Wanzhou.
In December 2018, Canada and the United States requested the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, who is the chief financial officer of Chinese network equipment manufacturer Huawei, and is preparing to extradite her to the United States.
In April, Australia’s Prime Minister Morrison called for an independent international investigation into the source of the neocon virus. The move provoked China’s ire. China then launched a series of retaliatory actions against Australia, first imposing high tariffs and launching anti-dumping investigations on a number of Australian exports, and then restricting Chinese tourists and students from traveling to Australia.
In January 2019, Chinese-Australian author and democracy activist Yang Hengjun was arrested in China. China accused him of espionage. In June, Karm Gilespie, an Australian citizen, was sentenced to death in China. The Chinese accused him of carrying 7.5 kilograms of drugs on an international flight. However, some observers have pointed out that the harsh sentence imposed on Gilespie after seven years of imprisonment had nothing to do with the deterioration of relations between the two countries.
Cheng Lei was born in Yueyang, Hunan Province, in 1975 and moved to Australia with her parents when she was 10 years old, completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland in 1994. 2003, she moved to Beijing, where she worked as a China correspondent for CNBC, an American commercial television station, and as a business reporter and anchor for the China Global Television Network, an English-language channel of CCTV.
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