Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch) For a while, everything about Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia seemed to be going smoothly. Indeed, ahead of Li touching down, even opposition leader and former China hawk Peter Dutton said he would “very much welcome the visit”. So, when Chinese embassy staff tried to block Australian journalist Cheng Lei from view during a Parliament House signing ceremony, the incident , while reflecting poorly on Beijing, was also a godsend for conflict-starved journalists.
Taken into custody in August 2020 on suspicion of carrying out criminal activities “endangering China’s national security”, Cheng Lei was detained in China for three years and two months and then released nine months ago. Judging by how enthusiastic the media were to talk to Cheng Lei following the incident, you could be forgiven for thinking that anything she said about China and Australia-China relations would be of immense interest to them. What does ‘national interest’ mean when it comes to Labor’s China policy? Read More But you would be wrong, based on her appearance in a recent UTS:ACRI public event .
The event featured Cheng Lei and her partner Nick Coyle, and invited in-person and live-streaming audiences. As you’d expect, quite a few journalists registered to attend. However, despite Cheng’s high profile in Australia, it seems none of the Australian media ended up running a story, despite her and Coyle spea.
