A Chinese Australian journalist detained for 3 years in China returns to Australia

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a Chinese Australian journalist who was jailed for three years in China on a murky espionage conviction has returned to Australia. Cheng Lei worked for the international department of China’s state broadcaster CCTV. China’s Ministry of State Security said that Cheng had been approached by a foreign organization in May 2020 and provided them with state secrets she had obtained on the job in violation of a confidentiality clause signed with her employer. A police statement did not name the organization or say what the secrets were. Albanese says Lei reunited with her two children in Melbourne on Wednesday. Her return comes ahead of Albanese’s planned visit to Beijing this year on a date yet to be announced.