An Australian journalist who disappeared from Chinese state television's airwaves six months ago and was detained by Beijing authorities has been formally arrested for "supplying state secrets overseas".

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Monday that China had revealed it formally arrested Cheng Lei on February 5, after taking her into custody last August without explanation.

The mother-of-two stands accused of "illegally supplying state secrets overseas", Payne said in a statement, without providing details.

Cheng had been a familiar face on CGTN's English-language channel, conducting interviews with noted CEOs from around the world.

Born in Hunan province, Cheng is now an Australian national who emigrated to the country as a child, before returning to China and joining the state broadcaster in 2012.

China does not allow citizens to hold dual nationality.

On Monday, China's foreign ministry confirmed the arrest Cheng faces, and said her case is being "processed".

Spokesman Wang Wenbin called for Australia to "respect China's judicial sovereignty and stop interfering in China's handling of the case."

Cheng faces severe punishment if found to have broken China's national security laws.

Her niece Louisa Wen told Australian broadcaster ABC that the family did not "understand anything about the case".

Cheng's 11-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son "don't fully understand the situation", she said, adding that it had been "quite tough on the kids wondering what's going on".

Cheng's detention came as relations between Australia and China cratered.

The timing and lack of information about charges raised speculation that her detention was politically motivated, or tit-for-tat retaliation.

Beijing has reacted angrily to Australia's liberal use of foreign interference laws to block Chinese investment in sensitive sectors and to investigate Chinese influence on the country's public life.

China was also infuriated by Australia's calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, responding with a slew of sanctions against Australian exports.

Cheng's detention came weeks after Australian authorities raided the homes of Chinese state media journalists.

Two Australian journalists, Bill Birtles and Michael Smith, fled China shortly after being interrogated about Cheng.

Payne said the Australian government had visited Cheng six times since she was detained -- most recently on January 27 -- and had "serious concerns" about her "welfare and conditions of detention".

"We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms," she said.

Cheng is the second high-profile Australian citizen to be held in Beijing, after writer Yang Hengjun was arrested in January 2019 on suspicion of espionage.

Her detention sent shockwaves through China's foreign journalist community.

Cheng had written a number of Facebook posts critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Beijing's approach to the coronavirus outbreak.

One post poked fun at Xi's visit in March to Wuhan, the Covid-19 ground zero: "The big story today, Dear Leader's visit, triggered titters in the newsroom -- waving to a big TV screen showing the coronavirus hospital in Wuhan apparently equals a visit."

Months after Cheng's detention, Chinese authorities also detained a Bloomberg News employee, Haze Fan, also on allegations of endangering national security.

The foreign ministry said Monday her case was also "under investigation".

Radio host becomes second Hong Konger charged with sedition
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 8, 2021 - A Hong Kong internet radio host was charged on Monday under a little-used colonial-era sedition law that authorities have begun to wield against Beijing's critics.

Officers from the police's national security department charged 52-year-old Wan Yiu-sing with four counts of "seditious intent", according to a court document.

It is the second time the sedition law has been applied since Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China as police use an expanded suite of legal powers to pursue dissidents following huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019.

The charges stem from the content of four online radio shows Wan hosted last year.

According to the charge sheet, police accused Wan of trying to "bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection" against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments in his programmes as well as "excite inhabitants" to break the law.

The content of the allegedly seditious shows is not known. But Wan -- better known by his DJ name "Giggs" -- has hosted programmes discussing anti-government demonstrations and calling for donations to support young Hong Kongers who have fled to nearby Taiwan.

Hong Kong's sedition law is separate to a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city last summer.

It dates back to the mid-19th century during British colonial rule.

The law remained on the books after the handover to China but was never used in a city that had enjoyed political freedoms unseen on the Chinese mainland.

But after 2019's democracy protests, prosecutors dusted it off.

Last September, another pro-democracy radio host, Tam Tak-chi, became the first person to be charged with sedition since the handover.

He faces five counts of sedition and is currently in custody awaiting trial.

Tam's upcoming trial will be a legal test for how sedition sits with the freedoms of speech supposedly guaranteed by Hong Kong's mini-constitution and its bill of rights.

It will also be closely monitored by those concerned that Hong Kong's place as a regional bastion of press freedom could be over.

Beijing's national security law has begun peeling back many liberties.

It has quashed protests and effectively outlawed a host of peaceful political views, including advocating for independence, greater autonomy or full democracy in Hong Kong.

Wan was previously arrested on a national security charge last year, one of more than 100 dissidents investigated under the new powers since they came into force in June.

At the time, the police's national security department said they suspected Wan had illegally processed funds to support people or organisations that advocate secessionist activities -- a potential reference to donations for Hong Kongers in Taiwan.

He has yet to be charged with a national security offence.

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

UK regulator revokes licence of China's CGTN news channel
London (AFP) Feb 4, 2021
British regulators on Thursday revoked the licence of Chinese news network CGTN after finding its state-backed ownership structure broke UK law, and warned of punishment ahead for airing an alleged forced confession. The move by Ofcom, which takes immediate effect, means UK broadcast providers must stop offering the channel to British audiences or face an unlimited fine. The regulator said CGTN's licence holder, Star China Media Ltd, had failed to show it had editorial oversight over the network ... read more