Journalist Cheng Lei reflects on her wrongful detention in China
Journalist Cheng Lei has reflected on her wrongful detention in China as she discussed the upcoming Sky News Australia documentary which examines the issue and takes viewers inside the communist nation's horrifying state imprisonment facilities.
Sky News Australia will premiere the new documentary 'Cheng Lei: My Story' on Tuesday 3 June at 7:30pm AEST.
The one-hour documentary is a deeply personal and harrowing account of Australian journalist Cheng Lei's extraordinary fight for freedom following her detention by Chinese authorities in 2020.
Lei, a respected news anchor and mother of two young children, was imprisoned in Beijing, wrongfully accused of supplying state secrets abroad.
The documentary comes just one day before the release of Cheng Lei's anticipated memoir, Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom, to be published by HarperCollins on Wednesday 4 June.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
‘Music to our ears': Housing industry thrilled after Clare O'Neil reveals Albanese government's plan to slash red tape
The Albanese government's new approach to boost the construction of new homes has received enthusiastic support from the housing industry. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil announced on Saturday that the Albanese government would push states and territories to roll back excessive levels of red tape that had made it 'uneconomic' to build new homes. Through its National Housing Accord, the Albanese government has pledged to deliver 1.2 million new homes. However in an interview on the ABC, Ms O'Neil said it was 'just too hard to build a house' in Australia, an issue she attributed to '40 years of unceasing new regulation'. "On their own, each piece makes sense. But when you put it together, builders face a ridiculous thicket of red tape that is preventing them building the homes we need,' she said. 'If we're going to tackle the fundamental problem — that Australia needs to build more homes, more quickly — we need to make a change." Speaking to Sky News Australia on Sunday, the Housing Industry Association (HIA)Simon Croft said he was thrilled to hear the government was taking on the challenge of cutting red tape. 'Hearing the Housing Minister Claire O'Neill yesterday, say how they want to cut red tape, slash red tape, it was music to our ears,' Mr Croft said. Minister O'Neil's comments about the need to cut red tape follow the release of a Productivity Commission report in February, which highlighted how the regulatory growth over 40 years had increased the cost, time and complexity of housing construction. The HIA industry and policy chief executive said the cumulative impact of new and existing regulations had "driven up the cost of construction by 40 per cent over the last five years'. 'It's the additional time spent for the builders,' Mr Croft said. 'They're spending more time in the offices, having to review new rules and regulations and actually being on site with the nail bags on and laying the slabs to get these homes built.' 'So just for instance, a brick wall; there's 20 standards that apply just to a single brick wall.' Mr Croft said while it was important for the government to get legislation right, they often overlooked the implementation and support mechanisms – such as the education and training required. 'There's just been a proliferation of more and more regulations… and implementation is often seen as an afterthought,' he said. 'What we want to see is implementation – as is (just as) critical, if not more critical than the design of the policy.' Mr Croft said he was not calling for the wholesale repeal of building regulations, but it did need to be looked at. 'Is it all working correctly? Can we make some efficiency gains? And there is some outdated regulation,' he said. 'How can we streamline our planning approvals and the rezoning around it, because it's taking far too long to get those single homes built and delivered and approved. 'Often our members say they can actually build the home faster than they can get it approved.' Speaking on Saturday, Ms O'Neil said what was required was 'three years of serious reform with the states and territories in local government'. 'We're up for that, and we know they are too,' Ms O'Neil said. The Albanese government has pledged to deliver 1.2 million new homes over the five years beginning mid-2024 as part of it's National Housing Accord – an agreement bringing together all three levels of government. However ABS Housing Data released at the end of May showed new dwelling approvals fell a further 6 per cent in April 2025. The decline means that after just 10 months of the National Housing Accord, the Albanese government is already more than 45,000 homes behind its target.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Xi plots next move in trade war with chips, tariffs at stake
'We're in very good shape with China and the trade deal,' Trump told reporters on Thursday after the 90-minute conversation. 'I would say we have a deal, and we're going to just make sure that everybody understands what the deal is,' he added. Loading The big immediate problem for the US was a lack of rare earth magnets essential for American electric vehicles and defence systems. After the Geneva meeting, the US side believed it had secured the flow of these materials, only to be disappointed when China kept its export licensing system in place, saying that exporters to the US still needed to apply just like everyone else. China, in turn, felt betrayed by a fresh wave of US restrictions on AI chips from Huawei Technologies, software for designing chips, plane engines and visas for upwards of 280,000 Chinese students. 'Both sides felt that the agreement in Geneva was being violated,' said Gerard DiPippo, associate director at the RAND China Research Centre. From the White House's perspective, he said, 'China committed to send the magnets.' Although Xi flexed his muscles with the rare earths restrictions, he also has reasons to come to the table. China's economy is expected to slow sharply in the second quarter and come under pressure into the second half of the year, according to Morgan Stanley economists led by Robin Xing. 'Now the China pendulum is swinging back from 'political principle' of standing firm against the US to 'pragmatism' in support of a still-fragile economy,' said Han Lin, China country director at The Asia Group. 'In other words, Beijing wants to de-escalate, and as long as there is a face-saving path for Xi to do so, now is better than never.' Xi can point to several things that indicate more is coming. The addition of Lutnick in upcoming trade talks, led in Geneva by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer, signals Trump may be willing to consider reversing some of the technology curbs that threaten to hobble China's long-term growth ambitions. Xi's statement after the call also made clear he expects the US to 'remove the negative measures taken against China,' which could include warnings against the use of Huawei's Ascend chips and restriction on the sale of chip design software to China. The two leaders also exchanged invitations to visit each other's country, events that will build momentum toward stabilising the relationship with agreements on thorny issues spanning trade, export controls and people-to-people exchanges. Trump said their wives would also come along, adding to the positive optics. It's significant that Trump agreed to visit China first, according to Bert Hofman, professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University Singapore and former World Bank country director for China. 'Xi probably realised that a call would be in the Chinese interest given the eagerness of Mr Trump to have one,' he said. 'This will accelerate talks and hopefully extend the truce beyond August,' he added, as the tariff reductions agreed in Geneva will expire in early September. But some analysts advised against being overly optimistic, pointing out the lack of details on key trade matters. 'There doesn't seem to be a deeper agreement that would prevent either side from taking additional negative actions, even as talks proceed,' said Kurt Tong, a former US consul general in Hong Kong and a partner at The Asia Group. Loading That fragility is compounded by Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy and ties with China in particular. In January 2020, when Trump signed a Phase One trade deal with Beijing, he said the relationship between the countries was 'the best it's ever been' before it quickly unravelled following the spread of COVID-19 around the globe. 'It would be unwise to bet that Trump has a vision for further negotiations that he won't abandon suddenly later on,' said Graham Webster, who leads the DigiChina project at Stanford University. Another area where Xi could see an early win is on the issue of fentanyl. Any deal to co-operate in blocking the flow of the drug to the US could immediately bring down American tariffs on Chinese imports by 20 percentage points. While the call helped to stem the negative trajectory of the relationship, the next two weeks will be crucial to confirm whether the truce will last, according to Wu Xinbo, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. He said China expects to see more progress on tariffs and US tech curbs. 'The call in itself is not a reward,' Wu said. 'What's important is what will come out of the call.'
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Xi plots next move in trade war with chips, tariffs at stake
'We're in very good shape with China and the trade deal,' Trump told reporters on Thursday after the 90-minute conversation. 'I would say we have a deal, and we're going to just make sure that everybody understands what the deal is,' he added. Loading The big immediate problem for the US was a lack of rare earth magnets essential for American electric vehicles and defence systems. After the Geneva meeting, the US side believed it had secured the flow of these materials, only to be disappointed when China kept its export licensing system in place, saying that exporters to the US still needed to apply just like everyone else. China, in turn, felt betrayed by a fresh wave of US restrictions on AI chips from Huawei Technologies, software for designing chips, plane engines and visas for upwards of 280,000 Chinese students. 'Both sides felt that the agreement in Geneva was being violated,' said Gerard DiPippo, associate director at the RAND China Research Centre. From the White House's perspective, he said, 'China committed to send the magnets.' Although Xi flexed his muscles with the rare earths restrictions, he also has reasons to come to the table. China's economy is expected to slow sharply in the second quarter and come under pressure into the second half of the year, according to Morgan Stanley economists led by Robin Xing. 'Now the China pendulum is swinging back from 'political principle' of standing firm against the US to 'pragmatism' in support of a still-fragile economy,' said Han Lin, China country director at The Asia Group. 'In other words, Beijing wants to de-escalate, and as long as there is a face-saving path for Xi to do so, now is better than never.' Xi can point to several things that indicate more is coming. The addition of Lutnick in upcoming trade talks, led in Geneva by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer, signals Trump may be willing to consider reversing some of the technology curbs that threaten to hobble China's long-term growth ambitions. Xi's statement after the call also made clear he expects the US to 'remove the negative measures taken against China,' which could include warnings against the use of Huawei's Ascend chips and restriction on the sale of chip design software to China. The two leaders also exchanged invitations to visit each other's country, events that will build momentum toward stabilising the relationship with agreements on thorny issues spanning trade, export controls and people-to-people exchanges. Trump said their wives would also come along, adding to the positive optics. It's significant that Trump agreed to visit China first, according to Bert Hofman, professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University Singapore and former World Bank country director for China. 'Xi probably realised that a call would be in the Chinese interest given the eagerness of Mr Trump to have one,' he said. 'This will accelerate talks and hopefully extend the truce beyond August,' he added, as the tariff reductions agreed in Geneva will expire in early September. But some analysts advised against being overly optimistic, pointing out the lack of details on key trade matters. 'There doesn't seem to be a deeper agreement that would prevent either side from taking additional negative actions, even as talks proceed,' said Kurt Tong, a former US consul general in Hong Kong and a partner at The Asia Group. Loading That fragility is compounded by Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy and ties with China in particular. In January 2020, when Trump signed a Phase One trade deal with Beijing, he said the relationship between the countries was 'the best it's ever been' before it quickly unravelled following the spread of COVID-19 around the globe. 'It would be unwise to bet that Trump has a vision for further negotiations that he won't abandon suddenly later on,' said Graham Webster, who leads the DigiChina project at Stanford University. Another area where Xi could see an early win is on the issue of fentanyl. Any deal to co-operate in blocking the flow of the drug to the US could immediately bring down American tariffs on Chinese imports by 20 percentage points. While the call helped to stem the negative trajectory of the relationship, the next two weeks will be crucial to confirm whether the truce will last, according to Wu Xinbo, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. He said China expects to see more progress on tariffs and US tech curbs. 'The call in itself is not a reward,' Wu said. 'What's important is what will come out of the call.'
