China on Tuesday declined to provide details about the detention of an Australian journalist working as an anchor for state TV who has been detained for at least two weeks without charge.
Cheng Lei, an anchor for CGTN, China’s English-language state broadcaster, has been held since at least August 14 but Australian diplomats say Beijing has given no reason for her detention.
Her case is the latest to fray relations between the two countries which have withered over trade, security concerns about Chinese tech and Canberra’s push for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Cheng has not been seen in public since being held, although Australian envoys in Beijing were able to speak to her on August 27.
A foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing batted away questions over the fate of the China-born journalist, who enjoyed a high profile as a business news presenter on CGTN.
“I can’t give you any specifics,” Hua Chunying told reporters.