Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralian journalist Cheng Lei has been formally arrested in China on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
She has been in detention without charge since August last year.The Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said on Monday that she had been informed by the Chinese government that Cheng was arrested on Friday.Born in China, but holding an Australian passport, having grown up in Melbourne, Cheng is a high-profile TV anchor for CGTN, the international broadcast arm of state-owned China Central Television.
She fronted the “Global Business” daily show.Her case is surprising and confusing, given that CGTN is often viewed in the west as a pro-China propaganda outlet. (It was stripped of.
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