Chinese diplomats stationed in Australia attempted to pressure a prominent think tank into cancelling a speaking engagement by Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who was previously detained in China for over three years.
A Journalist's Ordeal in Detention
Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist of Chinese origin, was first detained in Beijing in August 2020. She was held for three years and two months, accused of 'carrying out criminal activities endangering China's national security'. Her detention followed the then Australian Coalition government's call for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Cheng was subjected to what has been widely described as a sham trial and conviction. The charges were related to her forwarding an economic report to a fellow journalist. Following her release, she returned to Australia, but the long arm of the Chinese state appears to have followed her.
Ongoing Efforts to Silence Criticism
Now, two years after her return to Australia, fresh attempts to muzzle her have emerged. Diplomats from the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne allegedly tried to stop her from speaking at the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) in August.
Speaking on the podcast 'Latika Takes' while in London for PEN International's Day of the Imprisoned Writer, Cheng Lei confirmed the pressure campaign. 'They keep tabs on me,' she stated. 'For example, I know they tried to stop a talk that I was giving at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. This is the [Chinese] Melbourne Consulate.'
Institutional Pushback and a Memoir of Freedom
Richard Iron, President of the AIIA Victorian branch, confirmed the incident to The Nightly. He revealed that China's Consul General, Fang Xinwen, visited him on the morning of Ms Cheng's scheduled talk on August 5. The diplomat reportedly asked him to cancel the event.
Mr Iron stated that he told Consul General Fang that Australians desire a positive trading relationship and friendship with China. However, he firmly added a crucial caveat: 'They don't like being spied on, they don't like being intimidated, and they don't like being bullied.' The event ultimately proceeded.
In her recent memoir, 'Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom', she details her anger at being deprived of her freedom and time with her two children. She has expressed a determination to expose the treatment of individuals and their families by the Chinese government, using her freedom to speak out.
'It's a different standard of humanity,' she noted, highlighting a perspective often missing from mainstream coverage because many who experience it are too scared to write about it afterwards. 'So I'm definitely using that freedom to their dismay, probably.'
