Sky News Australia reveals the top-secret detention facilities where China wrongfully detained journalist Cheng Lei
Sky News Australia has revealed details of the top-secret detention facilities where the Chinese Communist Party wrongfully detained an Australian journalist.
Cheng Lei was a popular presenter and journalist on China's CGTN – a state-owned English-language news channel – when she was secretly taken into custody in August 2020.
Lei spent a total of 1,154 days in CCP custody before finally being released and returning to Australia in October 2023.
In a new documentary, premiering on Tuesday at 7.30pm AEST, the Australian journalist reveals key details of her incarceration – including the methods the CCP used to try and break her.
Lei spent the first six months of her detention in what the Chinese government calls RSDL and which she described as a form of torture.
'RSDL is the Chinese spelling for hell. It stands for residential surveillance at a designated location, which makes you think it's house arrest, but in reality, it's mental torture,' Lei says in the documentary.
Sky News recreated an RSDL cell to show the conditions she was held in.
The cell is about four metres by four metres. Windows are always covered by curtains. The bathroom has no door. And the light stays on 24 hours a day.
Seeing the re-creation, the Australian journalist said it was just like where she had spent six months 'thinking I was never going to get out and (feeling) absolutely helpless'.
'It's as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got,' she said.
Lei explained that for about 13 hours a day she was forced to sit silently and unmoving at the end of her bed while two CCP officers stared at her from just feet away.
'You're in a bare room and you are guarded and watched at all times by two guards. One stands in front of me, one sits next to me, and they take turns with the standing and sitting,' she said.
'I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on the lap. Not allowed to cross the ankles or cross the legs, not allowed to close the eyes.
"No talking, No laughing, no sunshine, no sky, no exercise, no requests, no colour. Just fear, desperation, isolation and utter boredom."
Lei, who has been reunited with her two children, family and friends in Melbourne, where she works as an anchor for Sky News Australia, said the CCP had created a system that made victims torment themselves.
'How do they come up with this... just nothingness. Nothingness, but also a sea of pain,' she asked.
Cheng Lei recounts the horrific torture tactics of the Chinese Communist Party in a new documentary about her wrongful detention. Watch 'Cheng Lei: My Story' tonight from 7:30pm on Sky News Australia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
43 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Wall St gains as tech boost offsets economic worries
US stocks have edged higher as strength in technology shares offset declines driven by weak economic data that deepened concerns about the effects of trade policies from US President Donald Trump's administration. The US services sector contracted for the first time in nearly a year in May while businesses paid higher input prices, a reminder that the economy was still at risk of experiencing a period of very slow growth and high inflation. The ADP National Employment Report showed US private employers added the fewest number of workers in more than two years in May. Investors are awaiting Friday's non-farm payrolls data for more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the US labour market. "I think you get very short term volatility from the ADP number but I don't think that it means that much until we see the payrolls number," said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. The United States doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent on Wednesday, the same day by which Trump wanted trading partners to make their best offers to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July. Investor focus is squarely on tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners, with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to speak sometime this week as tensions simmer between governments of the world's two biggest economies. May was the best month for the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. The S&P 500 remains less than 3.0 per cent away from its record highs touched in February. Barclays joined a slew of other brokerages in raising its year-end price target for the S&P 500, pointing to easing trade uncertainty and expectations of normalised earnings growth in 2026. In early trading on Wednesdsay, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.09 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 42,605.07, the S&P 500 gained 17.36 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,987.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.41 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 19,459.09. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by communication services with a 1.2 per cent rise, while information technology stocks gained 0.4 per cent. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 1.1 per cent as demand for the company's artificial-intelligence servers and hybrid cloud segment helped it beat estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit. GlobalFoundries rose 2.2 per cent after the chip manufacturer announced plans to increase its investments to $US16 billion ($A25 billion). Tesla dropped 3.8 per cent as the electric-vehicle maker's sales slipped for the fifth straight month in big European markets. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.2 per cent after the US Federal Reserve removed a $US1.95 trillion asset cap imposed in 2018 following years of missteps. Shares of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike slumped 4.7 per cent after it forecast quarterly revenue below estimates. Dollar Tree fell 10.2 per cent after the discount store operator forecast second-quarter adjusted profit would be as much as 50 per cent lower than a year ago due to tariff-driven volatility. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 23 new lows. US stocks have edged higher as strength in technology shares offset declines driven by weak economic data that deepened concerns about the effects of trade policies from US President Donald Trump's administration. The US services sector contracted for the first time in nearly a year in May while businesses paid higher input prices, a reminder that the economy was still at risk of experiencing a period of very slow growth and high inflation. The ADP National Employment Report showed US private employers added the fewest number of workers in more than two years in May. Investors are awaiting Friday's non-farm payrolls data for more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the US labour market. "I think you get very short term volatility from the ADP number but I don't think that it means that much until we see the payrolls number," said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. The United States doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent on Wednesday, the same day by which Trump wanted trading partners to make their best offers to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July. Investor focus is squarely on tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners, with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to speak sometime this week as tensions simmer between governments of the world's two biggest economies. May was the best month for the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. The S&P 500 remains less than 3.0 per cent away from its record highs touched in February. Barclays joined a slew of other brokerages in raising its year-end price target for the S&P 500, pointing to easing trade uncertainty and expectations of normalised earnings growth in 2026. In early trading on Wednesdsay, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.09 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 42,605.07, the S&P 500 gained 17.36 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,987.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.41 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 19,459.09. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by communication services with a 1.2 per cent rise, while information technology stocks gained 0.4 per cent. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 1.1 per cent as demand for the company's artificial-intelligence servers and hybrid cloud segment helped it beat estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit. GlobalFoundries rose 2.2 per cent after the chip manufacturer announced plans to increase its investments to $US16 billion ($A25 billion). Tesla dropped 3.8 per cent as the electric-vehicle maker's sales slipped for the fifth straight month in big European markets. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.2 per cent after the US Federal Reserve removed a $US1.95 trillion asset cap imposed in 2018 following years of missteps. Shares of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike slumped 4.7 per cent after it forecast quarterly revenue below estimates. Dollar Tree fell 10.2 per cent after the discount store operator forecast second-quarter adjusted profit would be as much as 50 per cent lower than a year ago due to tariff-driven volatility. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 23 new lows. US stocks have edged higher as strength in technology shares offset declines driven by weak economic data that deepened concerns about the effects of trade policies from US President Donald Trump's administration. The US services sector contracted for the first time in nearly a year in May while businesses paid higher input prices, a reminder that the economy was still at risk of experiencing a period of very slow growth and high inflation. The ADP National Employment Report showed US private employers added the fewest number of workers in more than two years in May. Investors are awaiting Friday's non-farm payrolls data for more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the US labour market. "I think you get very short term volatility from the ADP number but I don't think that it means that much until we see the payrolls number," said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. The United States doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent on Wednesday, the same day by which Trump wanted trading partners to make their best offers to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July. Investor focus is squarely on tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners, with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to speak sometime this week as tensions simmer between governments of the world's two biggest economies. May was the best month for the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. The S&P 500 remains less than 3.0 per cent away from its record highs touched in February. Barclays joined a slew of other brokerages in raising its year-end price target for the S&P 500, pointing to easing trade uncertainty and expectations of normalised earnings growth in 2026. In early trading on Wednesdsay, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.09 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 42,605.07, the S&P 500 gained 17.36 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,987.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.41 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 19,459.09. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by communication services with a 1.2 per cent rise, while information technology stocks gained 0.4 per cent. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 1.1 per cent as demand for the company's artificial-intelligence servers and hybrid cloud segment helped it beat estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit. GlobalFoundries rose 2.2 per cent after the chip manufacturer announced plans to increase its investments to $US16 billion ($A25 billion). Tesla dropped 3.8 per cent as the electric-vehicle maker's sales slipped for the fifth straight month in big European markets. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.2 per cent after the US Federal Reserve removed a $US1.95 trillion asset cap imposed in 2018 following years of missteps. Shares of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike slumped 4.7 per cent after it forecast quarterly revenue below estimates. Dollar Tree fell 10.2 per cent after the discount store operator forecast second-quarter adjusted profit would be as much as 50 per cent lower than a year ago due to tariff-driven volatility. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 23 new lows. US stocks have edged higher as strength in technology shares offset declines driven by weak economic data that deepened concerns about the effects of trade policies from US President Donald Trump's administration. The US services sector contracted for the first time in nearly a year in May while businesses paid higher input prices, a reminder that the economy was still at risk of experiencing a period of very slow growth and high inflation. The ADP National Employment Report showed US private employers added the fewest number of workers in more than two years in May. Investors are awaiting Friday's non-farm payrolls data for more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the US labour market. "I think you get very short term volatility from the ADP number but I don't think that it means that much until we see the payrolls number," said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. The United States doubled tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50 per cent on Wednesday, the same day by which Trump wanted trading partners to make their best offers to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July. Investor focus is squarely on tariff negotiations between the US and its trading partners, with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping expected to speak sometime this week as tensions simmer between governments of the world's two biggest economies. May was the best month for the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports. The S&P 500 remains less than 3.0 per cent away from its record highs touched in February. Barclays joined a slew of other brokerages in raising its year-end price target for the S&P 500, pointing to easing trade uncertainty and expectations of normalised earnings growth in 2026. In early trading on Wednesdsay, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.09 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 42,605.07, the S&P 500 gained 17.36 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,987.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.41 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 19,459.09. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by communication services with a 1.2 per cent rise, while information technology stocks gained 0.4 per cent. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 1.1 per cent as demand for the company's artificial-intelligence servers and hybrid cloud segment helped it beat estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit. GlobalFoundries rose 2.2 per cent after the chip manufacturer announced plans to increase its investments to $US16 billion ($A25 billion). Tesla dropped 3.8 per cent as the electric-vehicle maker's sales slipped for the fifth straight month in big European markets. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.2 per cent after the US Federal Reserve removed a $US1.95 trillion asset cap imposed in 2018 following years of missteps. Shares of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike slumped 4.7 per cent after it forecast quarterly revenue below estimates. Dollar Tree fell 10.2 per cent after the discount store operator forecast second-quarter adjusted profit would be as much as 50 per cent lower than a year ago due to tariff-driven volatility. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 23 new lows.
The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
England's Vegas hiding by Australia did damage: coach
Former England women's rugby league head coach Craig Richards believes the 90-4 humiliation by Australia in Las Vegas in March did "a lot of damage" to the perception of the sport in this country. His side's march to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup had a surge of interest in the women's game and led indirectly to a number of star England players landing historic contracts in the fully professional NRL. Richards, who announced his departure from the England job in an emotional press conference after their last defeat to New Zealand, hopes the chastening experience in the US will act as a timely wake-up call for the domestic game. "Social media-wise, it did a lot of damage," said Richards of the Las Vegas clash, which was bolted onto an international program that also saw the start of the men's NRL season and the Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington. "I don't think it was a true reflection of where we are at. I'm not saying we're anywhere close to beating the Aussies, but I also don't believe there is a 90-point gap. "Internally it didn't harm us, but it made us question whether we are resting a little bit, and if we need to dig in a little bit deeper. I think the women's game is still in a good place, but we don't hide from the fact that there is still a lot to be done." After leaving the international set-up, Richards returned to St Helens where he succeeded Matty Smith as women's joint head coach alongside Derek Hardman for the start of the current campaign. He will lead Saints out at Wembley on Saturday as they bid for their fifth successive women's Challenge Cup win against Wigan, in a match Richards hopes will serve as a timely reminder of the strength of the English women's game. Former England women's rugby league head coach Craig Richards believes the 90-4 humiliation by Australia in Las Vegas in March did "a lot of damage" to the perception of the sport in this country. His side's march to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup had a surge of interest in the women's game and led indirectly to a number of star England players landing historic contracts in the fully professional NRL. Richards, who announced his departure from the England job in an emotional press conference after their last defeat to New Zealand, hopes the chastening experience in the US will act as a timely wake-up call for the domestic game. "Social media-wise, it did a lot of damage," said Richards of the Las Vegas clash, which was bolted onto an international program that also saw the start of the men's NRL season and the Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington. "I don't think it was a true reflection of where we are at. I'm not saying we're anywhere close to beating the Aussies, but I also don't believe there is a 90-point gap. "Internally it didn't harm us, but it made us question whether we are resting a little bit, and if we need to dig in a little bit deeper. I think the women's game is still in a good place, but we don't hide from the fact that there is still a lot to be done." After leaving the international set-up, Richards returned to St Helens where he succeeded Matty Smith as women's joint head coach alongside Derek Hardman for the start of the current campaign. He will lead Saints out at Wembley on Saturday as they bid for their fifth successive women's Challenge Cup win against Wigan, in a match Richards hopes will serve as a timely reminder of the strength of the English women's game. Former England women's rugby league head coach Craig Richards believes the 90-4 humiliation by Australia in Las Vegas in March did "a lot of damage" to the perception of the sport in this country. His side's march to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup had a surge of interest in the women's game and led indirectly to a number of star England players landing historic contracts in the fully professional NRL. Richards, who announced his departure from the England job in an emotional press conference after their last defeat to New Zealand, hopes the chastening experience in the US will act as a timely wake-up call for the domestic game. "Social media-wise, it did a lot of damage," said Richards of the Las Vegas clash, which was bolted onto an international program that also saw the start of the men's NRL season and the Super League clash between Wigan and Warrington. "I don't think it was a true reflection of where we are at. I'm not saying we're anywhere close to beating the Aussies, but I also don't believe there is a 90-point gap. "Internally it didn't harm us, but it made us question whether we are resting a little bit, and if we need to dig in a little bit deeper. I think the women's game is still in a good place, but we don't hide from the fact that there is still a lot to be done." After leaving the international set-up, Richards returned to St Helens where he succeeded Matty Smith as women's joint head coach alongside Derek Hardman for the start of the current campaign. He will lead Saints out at Wembley on Saturday as they bid for their fifth successive women's Challenge Cup win against Wigan, in a match Richards hopes will serve as a timely reminder of the strength of the English women's game.
The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Spurs prepared to let skipper Son leave for right price
Tottenham will only listen to significant offers for captain Son Heung-min this summer amid renewed interest from Saudi Pro League clubs, the PA news agency understands. Son was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia two years ago, but rejected advances to stick around for the start of Ange Postecoglou's tenure. Postecoglou subsequently named Son as Spurs captain and last month the South Korean forward led the team to Europa League success to achieve his goal of winning silverware at the club. Speculation over Son's future has been rife during his 10th season at Tottenham and whilst the club triggered a 12-month option in his deal in January, he is set to enter the final year of his contract in July. Son will also turn 33 next month and was affected by injury problems during the 2024-25 campaign, but the Premier League club will only let their talismanic skipper leave for a significant transfer fee, PA understands. Spurs are set to visit South Korea again later this summer for their pre-season - the third time in four years they have travelled to Son's homeland to prepare for a new campaign. Even though Son, who is currently on international duty, only managed 11 goals last term - his lowest return since his debut season - his global status offers enormous commercial value to the club. Son is not the only key figure with an uncertain future with no clarity over Australian head coach Postecoglou, who remains in the dark as to whether he will get a third season at Tottenham. Tottenham will only listen to significant offers for captain Son Heung-min this summer amid renewed interest from Saudi Pro League clubs, the PA news agency understands. Son was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia two years ago, but rejected advances to stick around for the start of Ange Postecoglou's tenure. Postecoglou subsequently named Son as Spurs captain and last month the South Korean forward led the team to Europa League success to achieve his goal of winning silverware at the club. Speculation over Son's future has been rife during his 10th season at Tottenham and whilst the club triggered a 12-month option in his deal in January, he is set to enter the final year of his contract in July. Son will also turn 33 next month and was affected by injury problems during the 2024-25 campaign, but the Premier League club will only let their talismanic skipper leave for a significant transfer fee, PA understands. Spurs are set to visit South Korea again later this summer for their pre-season - the third time in four years they have travelled to Son's homeland to prepare for a new campaign. Even though Son, who is currently on international duty, only managed 11 goals last term - his lowest return since his debut season - his global status offers enormous commercial value to the club. Son is not the only key figure with an uncertain future with no clarity over Australian head coach Postecoglou, who remains in the dark as to whether he will get a third season at Tottenham. Tottenham will only listen to significant offers for captain Son Heung-min this summer amid renewed interest from Saudi Pro League clubs, the PA news agency understands. Son was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia two years ago, but rejected advances to stick around for the start of Ange Postecoglou's tenure. Postecoglou subsequently named Son as Spurs captain and last month the South Korean forward led the team to Europa League success to achieve his goal of winning silverware at the club. Speculation over Son's future has been rife during his 10th season at Tottenham and whilst the club triggered a 12-month option in his deal in January, he is set to enter the final year of his contract in July. Son will also turn 33 next month and was affected by injury problems during the 2024-25 campaign, but the Premier League club will only let their talismanic skipper leave for a significant transfer fee, PA understands. Spurs are set to visit South Korea again later this summer for their pre-season - the third time in four years they have travelled to Son's homeland to prepare for a new campaign. Even though Son, who is currently on international duty, only managed 11 goals last term - his lowest return since his debut season - his global status offers enormous commercial value to the club. Son is not the only key figure with an uncertain future with no clarity over Australian head coach Postecoglou, who remains in the dark as to whether he will get a third season at Tottenham.
