Journalist Cheng Lei joins the podcast to discuss her memoir based on her time in prison in China: Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom.

Cheng Lei is a news anchor with Sky News, who previously worked in Singapore and China, including as the anchor of China’s government-run, English-language Global Business TV show.

She was arrested at her office in 2020 on claims she'd supplied state secrets. She was taken back to her home in Beijing, where her apartment was searched, she was blindfolded and driven to a secret location where the interrogations began. Knowing she’d done nothing wrong, Cheng thought she’d be released within a couple of days. She was held for more than three years, including time spent in isolation and while being watched 24/7.

Cheng was released on October 11, 2023. She was reunited with her two children in Melbourne.

She is candid and frank in this conversation, and also opens up about some of the things she continues to experience today in Australia, including feelings of being "shadow cancelled" and a sense that her very existence can be awkward for some.

She also discusses some of the massive life changes she’s experienced – from arriving in Australia at age 10 from China, to her release from prison and the different environments she’s lived and worked in.

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