Chinese authorities have formally arrested detained Australian citizen Cheng Lei “on suspicion of illegally providing state secrets abroad,” prompting new calls for the journalist to be treated humanely.
Cheng, an anchor of the Chinese state-run China News Television Network, has been detained in China since mid-August, but the decision to move to the next stage of criminal proceedings marks a blow to his hopes of release.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the Australian government had been informed that Cheng was officially arrested in China on Friday, about six months after she was first detained.
“Chinese authorities have reported that Ms. Cheng has been arrested on suspicion of illegally providing state secrets abroad,” Payne said in a statement Monday.
Amid ongoing diplomatic and trade tensions between the two countries, Payne also revealed that Australian embassy officials have visited Cheng six times since his detention, most recently on January 27th.
She said the Australian government had “raised serious concerns about Mrs Cheng’s detention on a regular basis at higher levels, including welfare and conditions of detention”.
Payne said Australia expected “basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and human treatment to be met in accordance with international standards”.
At a subsequent news conference, Payne said Australian officials would stay in close contact with Chinese authorities on the case and “provide all possible support” to Cheng.
“Our thoughts are with Ms. Cheng and her family at this difficult time,” she said.
Peter Greste, an Australian journalist who became a media freedom activist after his own detention in Egypt for more than a year, called for Cheng’s immediate release.
“China’s record for press freedom is already deeply disturbing,” Greste, a spokesman for the Alliance for Freedom of Journalists, said Monday.
“In the absence of evidence, Cheng’s arrest only adds to the impression that Beijing does not care about press freedom. Her case is a clear warning to other journalists to support the government or risk being imprisoned. “
Comments were requested from the Chinese embassy in Canberra.
Cheng – who was born in China but later became an Australian citizen – worked as a news anchor on a CGTN business show. She was detained in China since August 13 last year.
Human rights observers have expressed concern about Cheng’s well-being, given that she was initially taken to “residential surveillance in a designated location”.
This is a form of coercive custody that allows the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security to bypass ordinary criminal proceedings and detain subjects in undisclosed locations without formal arrest, indictment, trial or access to a lawyer for up to six months.
Monday’s Payne statement is not the first time the Australian government has made public revelations in the case.
The Australian government first revealed on September 1 that Cheng had been detained in Beijing – two weeks after Australia was notified.
In early September, two Australian foreign correspondents from China, Bill Birtles of the ABC and Michael Smith of the Australian Financial Review, were rushed home after a tense diplomatic conflict.
They both left China after being questioned by the Chinese Ministry of State Security. They were told there were people of interest in Cheng’s investigation.
At the time, Birtles told ABC that the episode appeared to be “a harassment of the remaining Australian journalists” and not a “genuine effort to try to get something useful” in the case against Cheng.
At the same time, Chinese state media published details of the Australian authorities’ alleged raids on Chinese journalists in Australia – dating back to late June. This episode is said to be related to an investigation of foreign interference.
On September 8, China’s foreign ministry confirmed that Cheng had been detained for national security reasons, but did not provide further details.
Concerns have also been raised about the situation of Australian writer Dr. Yang Hengjun, who has been detained by Chinese authorities since early 2019. Yang has denied allegations of espionage, saying he is “innocent and will fight until end”.
Amid a rupture in diplomatic relations, Australia updated its travel permit for China in early July to say that Chinese authorities have detained foreigners for alleged national security reasons and that Australians could be at risk of arbitrary detention.
At the same time, China updated its travel advice to say that Australian law enforcement agencies “arbitrarily searched for Chinese citizens and confiscated their items.”