Australian journalist Cheng Lei faces trial in Beijing court on spying charges

The trial of an Australian journalist who worked for Chinese state media and faces charges related to sharing state secrets began in a heavily guarded Beijing court on Thursday, over 19 months after she was taken away by the police.

Cheng Lei, a high-profile television anchor for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, was detained in August 2020.

Cheng, 50, was formally arrested much later on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas to unknown people.

A heavy contingent of uniformed police and plain-clothed security personnel were deployed outside the No 2 People’s Intermediate Court in Beijing where Cheng was to be tried on Thursday.

Australian Ambassador Graham Fletcher was barred from entering the court, according to Reuters.

“This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and regrettable. We can have no confidence in the validity of a process which is conducted in secret,” he told journalists before leaving.

According to the Reuters report, a court official told Fletcher that he could not be admitted because the case involves “state secrets” so the trial cannot be public.

Cheng Lei’s family members have said they are convinced she is innocent.

There had been no official word about Cheng’s detention for months after she was taken away in August, 2020.

The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed her arrest only in February, 2021, saying she had been arrested “…on suspicion of illegally supplying Chinese state secrets overseas”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin had then said that China is a country under rule of law, and all legal rights of the relevant personnel are fully guaranteed.

“Australia should respect China’s judicial sovereignty and stop interfering in China’s lawful handling of cases in any way,” Wang had added.

Cheng Lei’s case had coincided with the deteriorating ties between China and Australia following Canberra’s vocal demand for an international investigation into the source of the Covid-19 pandemic; Beijing responded with trade restrictions.

“Whilst a long time Australian citizen, Lei also has a great love for the country of her birth (China) and is highly respected across the globe,” the family statement had then said.

“We respect China’s judicial process and urge the authorities to bring this matter to a swift, compassionate and timely conclusion whilst at all times respecting her rights with the knowledge that she is the mother of two young and vulnerable children who need her.”

Both her children live in Australia.

A report by journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders had said in December that at least 127 journalists were then detained in China, calling the country the “world’s biggest captor of journalists”.

The report said President Xi Jinping had created a “nightmare” of media oppression worthy of the Mao Zedong-era.

The report quoted RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire as saying that China was a country in the midst of a “frantic race backwards” as Chinese citizens continue to lose press freedom.

Titled “The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China”, the Paris-based RSF said the report reveals the “…extent of the regime’s campaign of repression against the right to information”.

The report indicates how Beijing views journalism - not as a tool to provide information to the public to make informed decisions but as an instrument of state propaganda.