Tonight on Australian Story, Cheng Lei reflects on the three years she spent in a Chinese prison after being arrested and accused of espionage.
Three years after her release, the former TV anchor opens up about returning home, the time she lost with her family and the challenges of rebuilding her life.
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When journalist Cheng Lei was released from a Chinese prison three years ago, she was ecstatic. But Lei has since learned that freedom is not straightforward.
“Sometimes,” Lei says, “it feels like the sentence continues after release.“
In 2020, the TV anchor and single mum was arrested and accused of espionage while working at Chinese state television. She spent the next three years behind bars deprived of contact with her family.
For most Australians, the story ends with her joyful homecoming. But Lei and her two teenage children still live with the fallout.
“I’m full of anguish about the time that was taken away when they needed me and wanted me to be there,” Lei says.
A further blow is that many in the Australian-Chinese community believe China’s propaganda that she was a “greedy spy.“
“I feel I’m an inconvenience sometimes,” Lei says.
“My old Chinese friends … are too scared to contact me.“
The ordeal has encouraged Lei to “live urgently“. She’s written a book, taken up soccer, and even starred in a play about her imprisonment.
“This is the second shot at life for her,” says friend Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
“She’s just running with it.”
