Cheng Lei
Cheng Lei is a Chinese Australian journalist who was imprisoned by China for over three years at the lowest point in bilateral relations. Her book, A Memoir of Freedom, was…
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Cheng Lei
Cheng Lei is a Chinese Australian journalist working for Sky News. In 2020 when Australia-China relations hit bottom, she was incarcerated for over three years by the Chinese government on charges of leaking state secrets. Diplomatic efforts led to her release in October 2023.
She was born in China and came to Australia at the age of 10 in 1985. Originally pressured to work in finance, she changed careers to journalism after five years. From 2002 to 2020, she reported on the Chinese economy and markets for CNBC Asia and China Central Television. She received the Press Freedom Award from the Australian Press Council in 2024 and was the Australian newspaper’s Australian of the Year in 2023. Lei’s first book, A Memoir of Freedom, was published in 2025.
Festival Events
An Unfree World: Randa Abdel-Fattah, Evelyn Araluen and Cheng Lei
DATE March 28 TIME 4:00 pm WHERECummings Room Newcastle City Hall Book nowThe Books That Saved Me
DATE March 29 TIME 10:00 am WHEREUniversity of Newcastle NUspace X320 Book nowBY THE ARTIST
