High-profile Australian journalist Cheng Lei has now been formally arrested in China, nearly six months after she was first detained.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said the Chinese Embassy in Beijing informed the Federal Government of the development on Friday evening.
Cheng is accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
"We have consistently raised our strong concerns about her detention, regularly, at the most senior levels," Ms Payne said.
Ms Payne said the progress to her formal arrest means the matter has now "entered the formal criminal investigative stage", which can take months to move through the Chinese system.
Cheng had been working as a business journalist for the state broadcaster CGTN when she was secretly detained in Beijing in mid-August 2020.
Since then she has been assisted by the government, and the most recent consular visit was on January 27.
"We continue to seek assurances of her being treated appropriately, humanely, in accordance with international standards," Ms Payne said.
from 9News https://ift.tt/3tElHsi
via IFTTT
0 Comments