Latest news with #ChengLei:MyStory
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- General
- Sky News AU
‘Unforgivable': Daniel Andrews failed to raise Cheng Lei's case when visiting China
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the Sky News documentary 'Cheng Lei: My Story'. Ms Markson slammed former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews for visiting China and failing to 'raise Lei's case' when there. 'It's really unforgivable.'
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
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.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Freed Aussie exposes China's secret jails
An Australian journalist has relived the 'mental torture' of her time in one of China's notorious RSDL black jail cells in a harrowing documentary detailing ordeal. It has been little more than one-and-a-half-years since Cheng Lei landed safely in Australia after spending nearly three in Chinese custody. She was a prominent business anchor for a Chinese state broadcaster when Ministry of State Security officers unexpectedly raided her Beijing apartment in August, 2020. After hunting through her belongings and seizing all her electronic devices, they blindfolded Cheng and disappeared her into China's web of secret prisons. Now a Sky News presenter based in her hometown of Melbourne, Cheng has delved into the brutality of her detention in a documentary for the network titled Cheng Lei: My Story. She shares heart-wrenching details of the darkest period of her life and offers a rare glimpse into one of the most ruthless justice systems on the planet. Australian journalist Cheng Lei spent nearly six months in solitary confinement in China. Supplied Credit: Supplied Cheng was held in solitary confinement for nearly six months after being accused of endangering China's national security. Chinese authorities never fully clarified the allegation, but that did not stop them holding her for 177 days before her official arrest. 'RSDL is the Chinese spelling for hell,' Cheng said in the documentary. 'It stands for Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, which makes you think it's house arrest. 'But in reality, it's mental torture.' Little is known about RSDL in China. But Safeguard Defenders, which tracks disappearances in China, has scraped enough together to paint a deeply disturbing picture. Detainees are kept at unknown locations for up to six months in cells 'designed to prevent suicide', according to the human rights not-for-profit. Witnesses have told the group they were denied legal counsel or contact with the outside world and 'regularly subjected to torture and forced to confess' — experiences hauntingly similar to Cheng's. Faced with a recreation of her cell, Cheng became emotional and said the months she spent inside were 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. 'Yeah, this is where I spent six months,' she said as she entered the mock cell. 'Just sitting like this, thinking I was never gonna get out and absolutely helpless.' Cheng was forced to sit in a rigid position for 13 hours every day. NewsWire / Screengrab / Sky News Australia Credit: NewsWire The room was simple — blank, cream walls, a bed and a stool for the guards that watched over her 24/7. She was forbidden from talking or making the 'slightest movement', and had to receive permission before so much as scratching herself, she explained. 'So you're in a bare room, and you are guarded and watched at all times by two guards,' Cheng said. 'One stands in front of me, one sits next to me, and they take turns with the standing and sitting. 'I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my 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.' She says she sat like that for 13 hours each day. 'I hated having to sit still, not being able to do anything,' Cheng said. 'How do they come up with this — just nothingness? Nothingness, but also a sea of pain. 'I had no idea what was happening, or how long I would be here.' Outside, fierce diplomatic efforts were underway to gain consular access to her, with Australian officials fighting to get information to her loved ones — including her two children in Melbourne — about where she was and what her condition was. Safeguard Defenders has estimated as many as 113,407 people have been placed into RSDL and later faced trial. Cheng says her time in a secret Chinese prison cell was 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. NewsWire / Screengrab / Sky News Australia Credit: NewsWire After she was formally arrested, Cheng was taken out of RSDL and moved into a larger cell with three other women. She stayed there for the remainder of her detention. Cheng and her cellmates were still subjected to 24-hour surveillance, but at least she was not alone, and a clearer picture was forming of what had landed her in custody. 'Eight words' As a senior journalist working for state media, she had access to Chinese government releases before they were published, including a major announcement that Beijing was not setting a 2020 GDP target due to uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic. Cheng was close friends with a reporter at Bloomberg, Haze Fan. The journalists shared their sources with each other. Cheng said Fan had been pushing for a 'series of government reports from me that hadn't been published in order to break the story at Bloomberg'. 'And I wanted to help her, because she had helped me,' Cheng said. 'When I told her the eight words which were 'no growth target', 'GDP', nine million jobs target' at 7:23am, I thought that would help her break the story, which they did.' She sent the text just seven minutes before the announcement was published. 'The charge was supplying state secrets to foreign entities, which boils down to texting eight words, seven minutes before the embargo (lifted), to my friend at Bloomberg,' Cheng said. Cheng was detained during a low point in Australia's relationship with China. Former prime minister Scott Morrison had infuriated Beijing when he backed an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. China's ambassador at the time warned Australia's push for a probe was 'dangerous'. Soon after, tariffs were slapped on Australian goods, leading to a years-long trade war that has only recently eased, with the Albanese government unlocking $20bn worth of trade. Cheng's incarceration has been broadly seen as being part of China's efforts to pressure Australia. She was only released as ties with China began to normalise in late 2023. Cheng made clear the suffering she endured as a pawn in a geopolitical game. 'You don't know if you'll ever see your family again, because you don't know what they (the Chinese government) want,' she said. 'You don't know how everything you've done that you thought was good was now possibly criminal. 'Everything that made you happy or gave you pleasure now just was so far, is so removed from you. It was a cause of pain.' Cheng Lei: My Story will premiere on Sky News Australia at 7:30pm on Tuesday, June 3. Cheng Lei: A Memoir Of Freedom by Cheng Lei will be published by HarperCollins on Wednesday, June 4.
West Australian
4 days ago
- Politics
- West Australian
Australian journalist Cheng Lei relives ‘torture' of China's secret jails in documentary
An Australian journalist has relived the 'mental torture' of her time in one of China's notorious RSDL black jail cells in a harrowing documentary detailing ordeal. It has been little more than one-and-a-half-years since Cheng Lei landed safely in Australia after spending nearly three in Chinese custody. She was a prominent business anchor for a Chinese state broadcaster when Ministry of State Security officers unexpectedly raided her Beijing apartment in August, 2020. After hunting through her belongings and seizing all her electronic devices, they blindfolded Cheng and disappeared her into China's web of secret prisons. Now a Sky News presenter based in her hometown of Melbourne, Cheng has delved into the brutality of her detention in a documentary for the network titled Cheng Lei: My Story. She shares heart-wrenching details of the darkest period of her life and offers a rare glimpse into one of the most ruthless justice systems on the planet. Cheng was held in solitary confinement for nearly six months after being accused of endangering China's national security. Chinese authorities never fully clarified the allegation, but that did not stop them holding her for 177 days before her official arrest. 'RSDL is the Chinese spelling for hell,' Cheng said in the documentary. 'It stands for Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, which makes you think it's house arrest. 'But in reality, it's mental torture.' Little is known about RSDL in China. But Safeguard Defenders, which tracks disappearances in China, has scraped enough together to paint a deeply disturbing picture. Detainees are kept at unknown locations for up to six months in cells 'designed to prevent suicide', according to the human rights not-for-profit. Witnesses have told the group they were denied legal counsel or contact with the outside world and 'regularly subjected to torture and forced to confess' — experiences hauntingly similar to Cheng's. Faced with a recreation of her cell, Cheng became emotional and said the months she spent inside were 'as close to dying and wanting to die as I ever got'. 'Yeah, this is where I spent six months,' she said as she entered the mock cell. 'Just sitting like this, thinking I was never gonna get out and absolutely helpless.' The room was simple — blank, cream walls, a bed and a stool for the guards that watched over her 24/7. She was forbidden from talking or making the 'slightest movement', and had to receive permission before so much as scratching herself, she explained. 'So you're in a bare room, and you are guarded and watched at all times by two guards,' Cheng said. 'One stands in front of me, one sits next to me, and they take turns with the standing and sitting. 'I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my 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.' She says she sat like that for 13 hours each day. 'I hated having to sit still, not being able to do anything,' Cheng said. 'How do they come up with this — just nothingness? Nothingness, but also a sea of pain. 'I had no idea what was happening, or how long I would be here.' Outside, fierce diplomatic efforts were underway to gain consular access to her, with Australian officials fighting to get information to her loved ones — including her two children in Melbourne — about where she was and what her condition was. Safeguard Defenders has estimated as many as 113,407 people have been placed into RSDL and later faced trial. After she was formally arrested, Cheng was taken out of RSDL and moved into a larger cell with three other women. She stayed there for the remainder of her detention. Cheng and her cellmates were still subjected to 24-hour surveillance, but at least she was not alone, and a clearer picture was forming of what had landed her in custody. 'Eight words' As a senior journalist working for state media, she had access to Chinese government releases before they were published, including a major announcement that Beijing was not setting a 2020 GDP target due to uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic. Cheng was close friends with a reporter at Bloomberg, Haze Fan. The journalists shared their sources with each other. Cheng said Fan had been pushing for a 'series of government reports from me that hadn't been published in order to break the story at Bloomberg'. 'And I wanted to help her, because she had helped me,' Cheng said. 'When I told her the eight words which were 'no growth target', 'GDP', nine million jobs target' at 7:23am, I thought that would help her break the story, which they did.' She sent the text just seven minutes before the announcement was published. 'The charge was supplying state secrets to foreign entities, which boils down to texting eight words, seven minutes before the embargo (lifted), to my friend at Bloomberg,' Cheng said. Cheng was detained during a low point in Australia's relationship with China. Former prime minister Scott Morrison had infuriated Beijing when he backed an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. China's ambassador at the time warned Australia's push for a probe was 'dangerous'. Soon after, tariffs were slapped on Australian goods, leading to a years-long trade war that has only recently eased, with the Albanese government unlocking $20bn worth of trade. Cheng's incarceration has been broadly seen as being part of China's efforts to pressure Australia. She was only released as ties with China began to normalise in late 2023. Cheng made clear the suffering she endured as a pawn in a geopolitical game. 'You don't know if you'll ever see your family again, because you don't know what they (the Chinese government) want,' she said. 'You don't know how everything you've done that you thought was good was now possibly criminal. 'Everything that made you happy or gave you pleasure now just was so far, is so removed from you. It was a cause of pain.' Cheng Lei: My Story will premiere on Sky News Australia at 7:30pm on Tuesday, June 3. Cheng Lei: A Memoir Of Freedom by Cheng Lei will be published by HarperCollins on Wednesday, June 4.
Herald Sun
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
TV's Cheng Lei reveals cruel horror of China ‘punishment'
Don't miss out on the headlines from Books. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australian TV journalist Cheng Lei has detailed the cruel treatment she endured while wrongfully detained for three years in China's prison system – including six months of a brutal penalty 'worse than solitary'. Lei was a star presenter at the Chinese Global Television Network in Beijing in August, 2020, when she was taken from her workplace by state security officers and placed into detention, starting with so-called Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL). Now home in Melbourne and an anchor and columnist for Sky News Australia, Lei has revealed the harrowing conditions of her initial six-month incarceration at the RSDL – in particular, the 'sitting punishment' designed to break a prisoner's will. 'You have to sit there for 13 hours a day, you're not allowed to move, you have to ask for any sort of movement. There are two people on either side of you the whole time,' the 49-year-old mother-of-two said in an exclusive interview withThe Courier-Mail and other News Corp newspapers. 'They are not allowed to speak to you, you are not allowed to speak to them, you are not allowed to speak at all. The curtains are closed, the lights are always on, so you sit there being watched by the cameras and these two people, just looking at you: when you sit, when you shower, when you go to the toilet, when you sleep. It is just beyond any understanding of personal space.' While designed primarily as mental and emotional torture, the months of sitting motionless took a physical toll as well. Later moved to a different facility, Lei was finally charged in February, 2021 with 'illegally supplying state secrets to foreign organisations', after she shared a government briefing with a colleague just seven minutes before an embargo on the documents was lifted. The punishment for breaking the embargo was severe; in total three years and two months in prison, and at times not knowing if she would ever see her children – Ava, now 16, and Alex, now 13 – and her partner again. Lei acknowledged that her long imprisonment, 'almost broke me' at times, and said she would use 'mind pictures' – images of happier times in her life – to stay mentally healthy in the most challenging of circumstances. In her interview with the newspaper's Q Weekend Magazine she also disclosed how, at 17, she was raped during a harrowing break-and-enter in her family's Brisbane home. 'This guy was just cruising the neighbourhood checking all the doors and he got lucky at our house.,' she said. 'He said he had a knife and he would kill me.' Lei – eventually released in October 2023 after intense lobbying from colleagues, friends and negotiations with the Australian government – has written a moving account of her 1154 days in prison, titledCheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom; and is narrating a documentary on Sky News Australia on June 3 called Cheng Lei: My Story. Originally published as Aussie TV journalist Cheng Lei reveals true horrors of Chinese prison punishment
