'I Miss The Sun': Australian Journalist Detained In China Pens 'Love Letter'

Cheng, 48, who was a business television anchor for Chinese state television, was detained in August 2020.

Cheng, 48, who was a business television anchor for Chinese state television, was detained in August 2020.

Source : Getty

Australian journalist Cheng Lei, detained in China for three years on national security charges, has written a "love letter" to her country, saying she longs for the sunlight and her family. In an open letter, Lei said she misses the sunlight in her cell and could only stand in it for 10 hours a year.

"I miss the sun. In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year," Cheng Lei said in the letter, as quoted by the BBC. "I can't believe I used to avoid the sun when I was living back in Australia… It'll probably rain the first two weeks I'm back in Melbourne," she said. "I haven't seen a tree in three years," she added.

Cheng, 48, who was a business television anchor for Chinese state television, was detained in August 2020. She described her first statement since her detention as a "love letter to 25 million people," as reported by Reuters. Cheng, who was tried in a close court hearing in Beijing last year, has not received a verdict yet. However, the details of her alleged crimes have not been made public.

Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, tried to gain entry to the court to witness proceedings, but he was unsuccessful, as per the BBC. "I wrapped myself in the doona (quilt) and pretended I was being hugged by my family," Cheng, who shifted to Australia as a 10-year-old, wrote in her letter, as quoted by Reuters. She also said that she was missing her children. "Most of all, I miss my children," she wrote.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Friday that Cheng's message to the public "makes clear her deep love for our country," as quoted by Reuters. "All Australians want to see her reunited with her children. Australia has consistently advocated for Ms Cheng, and asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment be met for Ms Cheng," Wong said.

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