Cheng Lei: Australian journalist's dire Chinese prison conditions

More than two years after her arrest in China, new details show that Australian journalist Cheng Lei has experienced tough prison conditions while being detained — and her health has also reportedly deteriorated.

Cheng, a former anchor for China's state-run broadcaster CGTN, disappeared in August 2020, was formally charged with "suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas."

She attended a closed-door trial on March 31, 2022, however, no formal outcome from the trial has ever been released.

Life behind bars

The Chinese-born Australian could face life imprisonment if she's found guilty of violating China's national security laws.

In a documentary released by The Daily Telegraph in Australia last month, Cheng told Australian diplomats during consular visits that she had to put sanitary pads into her shoes because of insufficient footwear.

Additionally, she described how she was often pinned to chairs with wooden boards, and having to share a bed and a toilet with three other inmates in the cell, which is 3 meters by 3 meters.

And due to the long hours in the prison cell, Cheng's eyesight has also reportedly deteriorated, but prison authorities told her that getting her reading glasses would be a "hassle." The new details were reportedly from consular reports produced by Australian diplomats in China.

Denied phone calls with family

Nick Coyle, Cheng's partner and the former head of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce, told DW that Cheng has been allowed a 30-minute consular visit once a month over video links.

"She hasn't been allowed any phone calls or video calls or communication with her kids or family. She has had three visits from her lawyer during the preparation for her trial," Coyle said.

"Because we are not married, I don't have any visibility beyond that. I think she is allowed to write letters to her immediate family. Her kids and parents have received letters, but the process is that if the letters get screened, it often takes months for things to get back and forth."

Coyle said that the new details released by Australian media were consistent with the situation as he knew it.

"Her conditions are difficult and there are no other ways to describe it," he told DW. "The main thing for us and for her is for this to get to a resolution quickly and for her to get home. That's the most important thing."

"At the end of the day, it's my job to give her as much encouragement and positivity as possible. Fortunately, she's been very strong and she's camping with it as best as she could," Coyle added.

"Her two kids are resilient. They are getting on with their lives as best as they can. They need their mom and their mom needs her kids. Everyone is just trying to support each other as much as possible."

Staying positive in a Chinese prison

In the documentary, The Daily Telegraph also mentioned that Cheng tried to teach other inmates English with Shakespeare and English television series. She reportedly told Australian diplomats that her career teaching English as a second language was "flourishing."

"With my cellmates, I can see how much of a difference I am making to their lives. This is uplifting for me. I'm not wasting time, and I'm not valueless," she reportedly said.

Coyle told DW that Cheng has always been someone who cares a lot about other people.

"Her personality and her dynamism and strength will mean she'll make the best out of every situation she can. That's how she's wired and that's a tremendous complement to her," he said.

"She'll be trying to get through every day trying to be as positive as possible and trying to have a positive impact on people around her."

Australia urges humane treatment

In a statement released last month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong promised that Canberra will continue to advocate for Cheng's interests and wellbeing.

"Since Ms. Cheng was detained in August 2020, the Australian government has consistently called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms," Wong said in a statement.

Meanwhile, China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, claimed the rights of Cheng Lei and other Australian citizens that are currently detained in China were "well-protected."

"There are a couple of Australian citizens in China that are under custody according to Chinese rules and laws, and their basic rights are well protected, don't worry about that," he said during a public event at the National Press Club in the Australian capital Canberra.

Elaine Pearson, the acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told DW that the Australian government should emphasize that the release of Australian citizens detained in China will be critical to resetting the soured relationship between the two countries.

"Obviously, she's not the only Australian citizen that's wrongfully detained [in China,] and it's important that the Australian government makes it clear that releasing both of them [Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun] is absolutely critical to resetting the relationship with Beijing," she said.

China's hostage diplomacy in play

Cheng is not the only Australian citizen detained in China under national security-related charges. Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun was arrested in January 2019 when he arrived in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou with his wife and child. He's been charged with espionage and there are ongoing concerns about his health conditions.

Feng Chongyi, Yang's close friend and a professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told DW that both Yang and Cheng's cases show that China will trump up charges against specific people, and in the initial stages of the detention, these individuals will often be put under "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL) where authorities may use different ways to force them to confess to certain crimes.

"When Yang was put under RSDL, they repeatedly deprived Yang of sleep and kept interrogating him," he said.

"Yang's case was heard more than a year ago, but there are still no official sentences. Both cases show that the trial process doesn't follow Chinese legal procedures. Rather, it is dominated by political considerations."

Australians 'at risk'

Pearson from HRW said that, while it was hard to determine whether both cases are related to the worsening relationship between China and Australia, China does have a track record of using "hostage diplomacy."

"We do have concerns about these two cases and whether these Australians are effectively used as pawns in a greater battle between the two countries and for the Chinese government to get leverage over Australia," she told DW.

"I think the Australian government needs to work in coalition with other governments. It's important that they collectively raise concerns with the Chinese government. Ultimately, I think that will be more effective," she added.

Currently, the Australian government warns its citizens of exercising a high degree of caution in China. "As previously advised, authorities have detained foreigners on grounds of 'endangering national security'. Australians may be at risk of arbitrary detention," the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade wrote on its website.

Pearson said there seemed to be a pattern of foreign nationals facing the risk of arbitrary detention in countries like China, Russia and Iran.

"I'm worried there seems to be a pattern here and probably that does make Australian citizens think long and hard before traveling to certain countries," she told DW.

"I think it's important that all governments need to make it clear that citizens can't be arbitrarily detained as means of punishing certain governments or in order to extract certain concessions from that government," she added.