Australian Journalist Cheng Lei Returns Home After 3-Year Detention in China

Australian journalist Cheng Lei has returned home after being released from approximately three years of detention in China. Cheng, who worked for China's state broadcaster, was reunited with her family in Melbourne. Her release follows the completion of the legal process in China. Cheng had been arrested in 2020 and charged with "supplying state secrets overseas." Her detention strained ties between Australia and China. Cheng spent the first six months in solitary confinement without charge and was tried in secret, denying the allegations. China's Ministry of State Security stated that she had been deported after serving her full sentence.