Journalist Cheng Lei thanks Australia in first comments since leaving Chinese detention ‘in one piece’

Cheng Lei was convicted on espionage charges after closed-door trial

China-born journalist Cheng Lei extended gratitude to the Australian government in her first comments on being freed from a Chinese detention centre after three years.

Speaking to prime minister Anthony Albanese by phone after setting foot in Melbourn airport, Ms Cheng credited his government for her return in “one piece” from China.

The video of her conversation with Mr Albanese was released by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"Hello, prime minister. It’s because of you and all the team at DFAT that I’m able to make it here in one piece," a visibly ecstatic Ms Cheng was heard saying on the call.

“Tight hugs, teary screams, holding my kids in the spring sunshine,” Ms Cheng said on X on Wednesday evening. “Trees shimmy from the breeze. I can see the entirety of the sky now! Thank you Aussies.”

Her comments apparently contradicted the Chinese government’s version of her release which said that she was deported “in accordance with the law after serving her sentence” of two years and 11 months in prison.

The 48-year-old woman, who worked for the international department of China’s state broadcaster CCTV, was held under murky espionage charges since August 2020.

Mr Albanese suggested that she had recently been sentenced after being convicted in a closed-court trial last year on national security charges, straining bilateral relations between the two countries.

She was born in China and migrated to Australia with her family at age 10.

Ms Cheng denied the allegations and Canberra had complained that her case lacked transparency and judicial fairness.

Australian foreign minister Penny Wong welcomed Ms Cheng in Melbourne, where her two children, 11 and 14, were being raised by their grandmother.

Ms Wong said improved bilateral relations between Canberra and Beijing had paid dividends since her centre-left Labor Party government was elected last year after nine years of conservative rule. Ms Wong said she had promised the children she would do everything needed for their mother’s safe return.

"We’ve made clear since we were elected that we wanted to stabilize our relationship with China, we wanted to engage and I think you’ve seen some of the benefits of engagement," Ms Wong said.

The breakthrough in the case came ahead of Mr Albanese’s planned visit to Beijing this year. He will become the first Australian prime minister to visit the Chinese capital in seven years amid strained ties.

It has marked the removal of another blockage in testy ties with Beijing which has lifted several official and unofficial trade barriers on Australian exports.

Mr Albanese called her a strong and resilient person, adding “When I spoke to Cheng Lei I welcomed her home on behalf of all Australians”.

Ms Wong said Ms Cheng’s reunion with her children was a moving moment to witness.

“It was really moving to meet Cheng Lei yesterday and to speak to her kids, who are not much older than mine. I made them a promise some time ago we would do everything, I would do everything I could, to bring her home, and it was wonderful to see them together.”

The Australian government has not shared what the conditions of her release were. But Ms Wong said the government appreciated “the arrangements which were made to bring her home”.