Cheng Lei, who has been detained in China for more than three years, was at the Australian Parliament on Monday for the Chinese premier’s visit. The head of the Australian government denounced a “rather clumsy attempt” by the diplomatic delegation.
An Australian journalist has complained that she was deliberately hidden from view by Chinese diplomats during Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Canberra, an incident over which the Australian government expressed its concern on Tuesday. “worry”.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was detained in China for more than three years, was at the Australian Parliament on Monday for the visit of the Chinese number two, but deplored an apparent maneuver by Chinese diplomats to prevent her from appearing at the ‘screen. “They went to great lengths to prevent me from approaching the cameras and to supervise me”she told Sky News. “I guess it’s to stop me from saying or doing something they consider frowned upon.” “But that itself gives a bad image.”
“Quite a clumsy attempt”
It was the highest-ranking visit by a Chinese official since 2017. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that Australian authorities “had contacted the Chinese embassy to express their concern” after this incident. “When you look at the footage, it’s a pretty clumsy attempt, frankly, by a few people to put themselves between the cameras and where Cheng Lei was sitting.”he declared on the national television channel ABC. “Australian officials intervened, as appropriate, to ask the Chinese officials present at the press conference to move.”
Detained in China for more than three years, Australian journalist Cheng Lei was released in October 2023 and was able to return to Australia. The former presenter of the Chinese public channel CGTN was tried behind closed doors for having “provided state secrets abroad”. She testified about the harsh conditions and harsh treatment she faced during her detention. This affair has long poisoned relations between the two countries. At the end of his visit to Australia, Li Qiang said on Monday that relations between Canberra and Beijing were “on the right track, that of constant improvement and development”.
