{"id":1999721,"date":"2023-08-14T03:57:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T07:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-miss-the-sun-chinas-jailing-of-journalists-is-a-warning-to-all-who-speak-truth-to-power\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T04:00:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T08:00:51","slug":"i-miss-the-sun-chinas-jailing-of-journalists-is-a-warning-to-all-who-speak-truth-to-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-miss-the-sun-chinas-jailing-of-journalists-is-a-warning-to-all-who-speak-truth-to-power\/","title":{"rendered":"China&#8217;s journalist imprisonment warns truth-speakers."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fi-miss-the-sun-chinas-jailing-of-journalists-is-a-warning-to-all-who-speak-truth-to-power%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1999721&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>An Australian \u2062Journalist&#8217;s Heartbreaking Imprisonment\u200d in China<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>An Australian journalist jailed in China\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-66458771\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">says<\/a> \u2062 she sees sunlight \u201conly 10 hours a year\u201d and misses her children.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>A Life Interrupted<\/h3>\n<p>In\u200c 1987, Cheng Lei and her family immigrated from\u2064 China to Australia when she \u2063was only 10 and became Australian citizens. Later, Cheng \u200breturned to China and worked as an anchor at China\u2019s state-run\u2063 English-language television station, CGTN, in Beijing. \u200cThree years ago this week, on Aug. 13, 2020, Cheng <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2021\/02\/08\/cheng-lei-cgtn-china-arrests-australian-journalist-spying-charge\/4432766001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cdisappeared\u201d<\/a> \u2062 from the public eye.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1763506383\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e4e0627d112f3cb355e6d70cce32571f fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e4e0627d112f3cb355e6d70cce32571f\"><\/div>\n<h3>A\u2063 Desperate Plea<\/h3>\n<p>Before\u200c her \u201cdisappearance,\u201d the \u2063Australian \u2063government warned its citizens in\u2062 China of \u200dthe risk of arbitrary detention and an exit ban because \u2063Beijing\u200b was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/06\/18\/australia-responds-to-beijings-bullying-we-dont-trade-our-values-mate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">upset<\/a> about Canberra\u2019s \u200cpush to\u2064 uncover Covid\u2019s origin through the World Health Organization (WHO). Beijing dismissed the Australian warning \u200das disinformation even though China is known to deploy\u200d \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/29\/chinas-hostage-diplomacy-exposes-its-false-paeans-to-human-rights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hostage diplomacy<\/a>\u201d to silence critics and coerce other nations to fall into its \u200cline. A few weeks after Cheng\u2019s \u201cdisappearance,\u201d two\u2063 Australian journalists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.org.au\/australian-journalists-escape-from-china-a-warning-for-the-rest-of-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fled China<\/a>, fearing\u2064 for their safety. The tale\u2064 of their escape reads like a script for a \u201cBourne Supremacy\u201d-type thriller.<\/p>\n<h3>A Mother&#8217;s Anguish<\/h3>\n<p>When Cheng was arrested, her children were 9 and 11. \u200dNow they are 11 and\u200b 14 and haven\u2019t seen their mother for three years. Cheng recently <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FreeChengLei\/status\/1689586158031011840\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> an open letter to her family\u200c and Australia, the country she has called home since she was \u2062a \u200dteenager. Her love letter was dictated through Australian diplomats in \u200dChina, who see her once a month. It\u2019s the first \u2063time she\u2019s spoken up since her \u201cdisappearance\u201d in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>In \u2062her \u200bletter, Cheng described her perilous situation in\u200b jail, including, \u201cI haven\u2019t seen a tree \u2062in three years. \u2026 \u2063I miss the sun. In my \u200ccell, the\u200b sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also \u200dexpressed \u200dher love for Australia: \u201cI relive every bushwalk, river, lake, beach with swims and picnics with psychedelic sunsets, sky that is\u2063 lit up with\u200b stars, and the silent and\u2064 secret\u200d symphony of the bush.\u201d\u200b She ended her letter with, \u201cMost of all, I miss my children.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1ba947962d54bb23ae46ef73b55e4d5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1ba947962d54bb23ae46ef73b55e4d5\"><\/div>\n<h3>A Dubious\u2063 Arrest<\/h3>\n<p>Six months after\u200d Cheng\u2019s \u201cdisappearance,\u201d the Chinese government\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2021\/02\/08\/cheng-lei-cgtn-china-arrests-australian-journalist-spying-charge\/4432766001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> she \u200bwas arrested by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuban-protesters-on-hunger-strike-after-mass-sham-trial\/\" title=\"Cuban Protesters on Hunger Strike After Mass Sham Trial\">state security officers<\/a> and accused of \u201cillegally \u200csupplying \u2062state secrets overseas.\u201d She could face the\u200d death penalty \u2063or life in prison if convicted. Her charge was so vague that no one knew what she could have done to breach China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/canadian-olympic-committee-warns-athletes-not-to-criticize-china\/\" title=\"Canadian Olympic Committee Warns Athletes Not to Criticize China\">national security law<\/a>, given that she worked at CGTN, a heavily censored state media. Curiously, China \u2064announced Cheng\u2019s arrest a few days after U.K. regulators <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/business-media-china-television-82a4f98c198ca8245fb4dedfab697041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stripped<\/a> CGTN\u2019s national broadcasting license, citing the outlet\u2019s lack of \u200beditorial control and links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<\/p>\n<p>In \u200bMarch last year, Cheng went\u2063 through a secret trial that lasted less than a day, and the Australian ambassador to China wasn\u2019t allowed \u200bto attend. \u2063Neither the Australian government nor\u200b Cheng\u2019s family knew what \u200bevidence was presented nor the charges against Cheng. After the secret \u200btrial, the Chinese government kept delaying the sentencing of\u2064 Cheng.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese authorities also \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/australian-citizen-yang-hengjun-is-arrested-in-china-on-suspicion-of-spying-11566870552\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrested<\/a> another Chinese Australian, Yang Hengjun, a blogger and spy novelist, on \u200csuspicion of committing \u200bespionage. Yang\u2019s sentencing was also repeatedly delayed. These sentencing delays raised suspicions that Beijing\u2062 intended to \u2062use Cheng and Yang as bargaining chips to drive\u2064 concessions from\u2064 Australia, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-65530105\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demanding<\/a> Australia\u2019s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visit China later this\u2062 year.<\/p>\n<h3>A Stark Warning<\/h3>\n<p>Kyle Bass, a U.S.-based investor and outspoken critic of the CCP, pointed to Cheng\u2019s situation as a warning by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jkylebass\/status\/1689879116063924226\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tweeting<\/a>, \u201cIf you are a westerner still living in China, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN. If you are an investor in Chinese\u2064 equities, bonds, or \u2064private equity, \u2063GET OUT WHILE YOU\u200c STILL CAN. Xi had the tools of dictatorship \u2018firmly in his\u200d hands\u2019. #China.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a987dcbfe3fc2555a5acb7f9d450e7c6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a987dcbfe3fc2555a5acb7f9d450e7c6\"><\/div>\n<h3>A Global Concern<\/h3>\n<p>Cheng\u2019s case is agonizing to watch for overseas ethnic Chinese working in the \u2064media industry, including myself. I pray for her safe return to her family. As a U.S. citizen, I\u2063 cherish my constitutional right to free speech. But I am painfully aware of the steep price I have\u200d paid for speaking up: It is not safe for me to ever return to\u200c China\u200c to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scientist-warned-fauci-china-was-likely-lying-about-covid-deaths-fauci-said-email-was-too-long-to-read\/\" title=\"Scientist Warned Fauci China Was Likely Lying About COVID Deaths. Fauci Said Email Was \u2018Too Long To Read\u2019\">visit family<\/a>, celebrate my friends\u2019 weddings or the births of their children, or attend \u2062a high school\u200d reunion. I have had to \u200dgive up many relationships and miss scores of life events\u200c to keep people I care about and myself out of danger.<\/p>\n<p>But how long will I be able to speak \u2063truth\u2062 to power in the United \u200dStates? On the one hand, the CCP\u2019s long arm has already extended to\u200c the U.S. \u200dthrough spies and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/two-arrested-operating-illegal-overseas-police-station-chinese-government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-expands-its-secret-police-stations-around-the-world\/\" title=\"China Expands Its Secret Police Stations Around the World\">secret police stations<\/a><\/a>, among\u2063 other means, to intimidate and silence critics. On the other hand, some in the U.S. government have shown they wouldn\u2019t hesitate to go \u2062after journalists who held different political views.<\/p>\n<p>It was not a coincidence that an IRS agent <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/05\/24\/irs-opened-probe-into-matt-taibbis-taxes-after-twitter-dump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">visited<\/a> journalist Matt\u200c Taibbi on the same\u200c day he testified \u2063to the U.S. Congress about the \u201cTwitter Files,\u201d documents showing U.S. government officials and congressional leaders pressured Twitter to censor speech they didn\u2019t like. Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat, <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2023\/04\/20\/matti-taibbi-stacey-plaskett-jail-time-twitter-files-perjury\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a> to put Taibbi in jail over his congressional testimony.<\/p>\n<p>The pandemic revealed that freedom is\u200c fragile even in a \u2063constitutional republic or a democracy. Some \u200bin positions of power are always eager to seize the\u200c first opportunity\u2063 to expand their control over\u2064 our lives, regulate our thoughts and ideas, \u2062and subordinate our\u2062 rights to their will.<\/p>\n<p>Despite\u2062 all\u200c these risks, I won\u2019t give up writing. Speaking my mind is part \u200cof who I am, and I have no regrets about choosing \u200ca path less traveled.\u2063 But Cheng\u2019s letter\u2062 reminds me I should enjoy sunshine, trees, and freedom as much as possible \u2014 and while I still \u200bcan.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist imprisoned in China, laments her limited exposure to sunlight, enduring just 10 hours annually, and yearns for her children. At the age of 10, Cheng migrated from China to Australia with her family in 1987, eventually becoming an Australian citizen. She later returned to China, serving as a CGTN anchor, China&#8217;s state-run English-language TV station.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":1999722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1999721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}