A Chinese-Australian journalist who worked for China's national TV and was convicted on shady espionage allegations has spoken out about her severe incarceration conditions, including being allowed to stand in sunlight for only 10 hours each year.
Cheng Lei has been jailed for three years and has yet to be sentenced despite being found guilty on national security charges in a closed-door hearing last year.
She hasn't seen a tree since her detention and misses her daughter and son, who are now in high school, Cheng said in a statement sent to an Australian official and distributed to local media.
"I secretly mouth the names of the places I've visited and driven through," Cheng explained. "It's probably the Chinese in me that has gone beyond the legal limit of sentimentality." I miss my children the most."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that Australia would continue to support Cheng and her family, as well as campaign for her interests and well-being.
"Ms. Cheng's public message demonstrates her deep love for our country," Wong said in a statement. "All Australians want to see her reunited with her children."
According to Wong, Australia has continuously fought for Cheng and has "asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness, and humane treatment be met for Ms Cheng, in accordance with international norms."
"It's trying to communicate who she is and what she loves about her country to the Australian people," Coyle told the ABC. "It's a country she feels very fortunate to have come to at such a young age and benefitted from our warmth and multicultural nature, as well as our education and way of life." As a result, she misses it."
Cheng, 48, migrated to Australia with her family when she was 10 years old. She returned to China to work for official broadcaster CCTV's international bureau. The circumstances behind her detention and trial remain unknown. Prosecutors in China have vast powers to punish someone with spying or disclosing state secrets with little or no evidence, and Cheng could face years in prison.
Chinese authorities have also been accused of detaining foreign nationals, particularly those born in the country, in order to achieve diplomatic advantages or the release of Chinese individuals wanted on a range of offenses. China-Australia ties have recently improved after China placed them on hold in response to Canberra's charges of Chinese political intervention and intimidation of the local Chinese population.
