Australian-Chinese TV anchor Cheng Lei, who has been in prison in China and will be now spending three years more in detention, in a rare message said that she has been missing her family and 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 stated in a message which was released by her partner Nick Coyle on Thursday (August 10) on an account named “ FreeChengLei” on platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Speaking to CNN, Coyle said that the message was dictated to diplomatic officers and was shared with him. “I can’t believe I used to avoid the sun when I was living back in Australia,” said Cheng’s message. It was described as a “love letter” to Australia by Cheng, who said, “I haven’t seen a tree in 3 years.”
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Cheng, a former business anchor for China’s state broadcaster CGTN and mother of two, is accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, a charge that carries a possible sentence of between five years to life in prison.
She had been on her way to work on the morning of August 13, 2020, when she “was taken by China’s Ministry of State Security,” Coyle said in a letter published in The Australian newspaper in May.
The details of the allegations against Cheng have not been revealed by the Chinese authorities. The court in China delayed in giving a verdict several times, which left Cheng in custody and gave no clarification to her loved ones regarding her fate. In the letter released, Cheng fondly spoke about her life in Australia, saying, “I miss the Australian people.”
“I remember camping for the first time with my family. I miss the sweet encounters of wildlife in Australia, the sea salt whirling in my ear. I relive every bushwalk, river, lake, beach with swims and picnics and psychedelic sunsets, sky that is lit up with stars, and the silent and secret symphony of the bush,” she writes.
“I secretly mouth the names of places I’ve visited and driven through,” Cheng said. “It is the Chinese in me that has probably gone beyond the legal limit of sentimentality. Most of all, I miss my children,” she added. Coyle further informed CNN that he is able to hear from Cheng only after she is visited by her consular once every month.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in a statement, said that Cheng and her family will be supported and her interests and well-being will be taken care of.
“Cheng’s message to the public makes clear her deep love for our country,” said Wong in a statement. “All Australians want to see her reunited with her children,” he added.
Wong said that the government has been advocating for Cheng and “asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met for Cheng, in accordance with international norms.”
