Cheng Lei's release sets the stage for an Australia-China reset
The Australian journalist’s hard-won freedom was achieved through adroit diplomacy and a Chinese leadership eager to stabilise relations.
The release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei after more than three years in Chinese prison removes the biggest remaining stumbling block to Australia reseting ties with China ahead of Anthony Albanese's highly symbolic visit to Beijing later this year.
Cheng’s hard-won freedom was the culmination of 18 months of adroit diplomacy, and a persistent campaign by her family and supporters to keep her story in the public and political spotlight. But the decisive factor was arguably the momentum generated from a Chinese leadership eager to stabilise relations.
“China presumably understood how important Cheng Lei’s case was for the Albanese government domestically,” Benjamin Herscovitch, a research fellow at the Australian National University, said. “The release significantly improves the political atmospherics at home for Albanese’s visit … and Beijing may believe that it will help convince Canberra to take positions more amenable to China’s interests.”
The campaign inside the Australian government to secure journalist Cheng Lei’s release from a Chinese prison started to gain legs in a meeting between Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her counterpart Wang Yi in July, 2022, in Bali.
