The arrival of Cheng Lei back in Melbourne today is clearly a moment of celebration for the Chinese Australian journalist and her family from whom she has been separated for over three years.
But it would also seem to be a triumph for Australian diplomacy, as well as a signal of China’s serious intent to improve Australia-China relations. For some time, Cheng’s incarceration has remained a sticking point for Canberra in a more reasonable relationship emerging between the two sides.
Although born in China, Cheng has been an Australian citizen for years, having migrated to Melbourne with her parents at the age of 10. As a journalist, she found a degree of celebrity working within China’s state-owned English-language news networks. In recent years, she landed a job hosting the Global Business program on the China Global Television Network.
