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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty, Helen Davidson and Daniel Hurst

‘Tight hugs, teary screams’: Cheng Lei releases first statement after release from detention in China

Cheng Lei Anthony Albanese Australia Yang Hengjun United Nations China National Security Melbourne
Australian journalist Cheng Lei meets foreign minister Penny Wong on her arrival in Melbourne
Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who was detained in China in August 2020 over national security accusations, meets foreign minister Penny Wong on her arrival in Melbourne.
 Photograph: Sarah Hodges/DFAT

The Australian journalist Cheng Lei – jailed for three years in China on ill-defined allegations of sharing Chinese state secrets overseas – has been freed and reunited with her family in Australia.

“Tight hugs, teary screams, holding my kids in the spring sunshine,” Cheng said via X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday evening. “Trees shimmy from the breeze. I can see the entirety of the sky now! Thank you Aussies.”

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