Australian journalist Cheng Lei, held in detention in China for three years, has spoken publicly for the first time in an open letter to the people of Australia. In the letter, dictated to diplomats, she described her longing for freedom and the simple pleasures of life in Australia.
“I miss the sun. In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year,” she wrote. The finance reporter, who worked for CGTN, China's state media English-language television station, spent her first six months in solitary confinement without charge.
Ms Cheng was tried in secret in March last year and has been awaiting sentencing for over a year. Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, was denied entry to the court. Even her family is unaware of the specific charges, which reportedly involve passing on “state secrets”.
In her letter, Ms Cheng expressed nostalgia for her life in Australia, where her family immigrated from Hunan Province when she was 10. She recalled camping trips, bushwalks, and the kindness of strangers. “The memories of such kindness have come back to me now and restored me,” she said.
There is speculation that her sentencing has been delayed to use her case as a bargaining chip in diplomatic dealings. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been invited to Beijing but faces pressure not to go until Ms Cheng and fellow Australian Yang Hengjun are released.
Ms Cheng ended her letter with a poignant note: “Most of all, I miss my children.”
