The federal government has requested that Australian officials be present at the trial of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who has been detained in China for more than 19 months:
In this file photo, Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei attends a public event in Beijing on 12 August, 2020.The federal government has requested that Australian officials be present at the trial of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, which is set to begin on Thursday.Foreign Minister Marise Payne said such a request is in line with China's obligations under the bilateral consular agreement.
She said Australian officials have been able to regularly visit Ms Cheng, with the last visit on 21 March. Ms Lei, who worked as a television anchor for Chinese state media for a decade before being detained in 2020, was formally arrested a year ago on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.
Australia has previously said it was concerned by what it said was a "lack of transparency" over the case, and Ms Cheng's family have said they are convinced she is innocent.
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