After surviving almost six months in a secret detention facility, experts fear Australian journalist Cheng Lei’s journey through China’s opaque legal system is only just beginning.
Chinese authorities formally arrested the popular television anchor on Monday on suspicion of “illegally supplying state secrets overseas” but provided no details about the nature of her alleged crimes
Even the Australian government is in the dark, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne telling ABC Radio she was “not privy” to the circumstances behind the journalist’s arrest.
At the time of her sudden detention, on 13 August last year, Ms Cheng had worked as a business anchor for the Chinese government’s English-language broadcaster CGTN for more than eight years.
She was widely regarded as a popular and non-controversial media personality.
Monday’s announcement marks a new stage in Ms Cheng’s ordeal, with Senator Payne warning the detention could go on for many months to come.
China’s complex and secretive legal system lets people suspected of national security offences to be held for up to six months without arrest, charge, or trial and often without access to a lawyer.
Under this system, Ms Cheng – a mother of two – has been held in a form of detention known as “residential surveillance at a designated location”, according to Chinese authorities.
Despite being labelled “residential” detention, this practice sees people accused of high-level crimes detained in secret locations outside their home in a bid to ensure their supporters are unable to locate them.
“They treat it as very different from a regular criminal suspect,” said Associate Professor Colin Hawes, who specialises in Chinese law at the University of Technology Sydney.
“If you’re on that side of a line as a national security suspect, or corruption suspect, then you’re subject to this much harsher kind of treatment.
“Often the investigations are quite gruelling, and involve sleep deprivation and hours of interrogations each day to try and get you to admit certain things that you’ve done wrong, that you may or may not have done wrong.”
The formal charges indicate China’s intention to proceed with a full-scale criminal investigation, leaving Ms Cheng at the mercy of a legal system that has been accused of using “unfair trials, torture, and other ill-treatment in detention” by Amnesty International.
It is difficult to predict how long the process could take given Ms Cheng’s unique position as an Australian citizen and state-employed journalist, but Dr Hawes estimated it could be up to a year before her case is brought to trial.
“These are uncharted waters,” said Delia Lin, an Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at Melbourne University.
“This is the first foreign journalist, who is arrested, not just detained but arrested, on accusations of leaking national secrets. No one really knows what’s going to happen, or how long the process is going to take.”
Another Australian citizen, pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun, has so far been detained in China for more than two years, after he was arrested at Guangzhou Airport in January 2019.
Like Ms Cheng, he has been charged with endangering national security, in his case by allegedly collaborating with an unidentified espionage organisation. He has repeatedly denied all charges and says he refuses to plead guilty to things he has not done.
His trial is still yet to get underway, giving rise to fears Ms Cheng will be forced to endure an equally long wait.
The timing of her arrest, during a period where relations between China and Australia are historically low, is also “very concerning”, Dr Lin said.
Prominent Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been detained in China since January 2019.
Her detention came just weeks after Australian authorities raided the homes of Chinese state media journalists following the introduction of foreign interference laws aimed at blocking Chinese influence.
The last two remaining Australian foreign correspondents in China – ABC’s Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith – were then forced to flee the country after being questioned in relation to Ms Cheng’s case.
These factors have led human rights advocates to speculate her detention is an attempt at “hostage diplomacy”, where foreigners are detained to pressure foreign powers into a course of action.
An apparent example of this practice is the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, on suspicion of spying in December 2018, days after Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver.
The pair were formally arrested in May 2019, but they are still being held in separate secret locations and it is unclear when, if ever, they will face trial despite protest from the Canadian government.
Louis Huang of Vancouver Freedom and Democracy for China holds photos of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.
Getty Images
Dr Hawes said there was little doubt the arrests of Mr Kovring and Mr Spavor was in retaliation for Mr Meng’s arrest, but said Ms Cheng’s case was more complicated.
“There’s no clever parallel or tit-for-tat type that it could be related to,” he said. “I don’t think a general deterioration in relations provides a real reason for them to do it.”
He pointed to China’s recent trade sanctions on Australia as a more clear attempt to influence foreign policy.
“Someone who was working for a Chinese state broadcaster, it doesn’t seem the right kind of person for them to arrest to try and send a message to Australia,” he added.
Following the announcement of Ms Cheng’s arrest, Chinese government spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned Australian officials against “interfering in China’s handling of the case … in any way.”
He also stated that China was a “country under rule of law” and that all rights of Ms Cheng would be “fully guaranteed”.
The warning appeared to be in response to Senator Payne’s calls for Ms Cheng to be afforded procedural fairness and humane treatment.
“Australia will always stand up for the interests of our citizens in the circumstances in which they find themselves,” she later told ABC Radio.
When Ms Cheng’s case is brought to trial, assuming the Australian government cannot secure her release beforehand, it is unlikely the full details of the allegations against her will be made given the sensitive nature of the charge.
There is also no clear precedent for what her punishment will be if found guilty, which is the likely outcome given China’s almost 100 per cent conviction rate.
“Over the last 10 years or so, the Chinese government has not released people through negotiations with foreign governments without some kind of penalty,” Dr Hawes said.
While there is no limit on the sentence for national security crimes, he said it was possible Ms Cheng could be released with a relatively short sentence or time served.
“Unfortunately, it’s really unpredictable,” he added. “And I wouldn’t want to be in her position.”
