Latest News by Industry
Australian minister credits improved relations with China for the release of a detained journalist
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong is crediting improved relations with China for the return home this week of an Australian journalist whose three-year detention in China had strained ties
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday credited improved relations with China for the return home this week of an Australian journalist whose three-year detention in China in a murky espionage case had strained ties.
A teary-eyed Wong had greeted Cheng Lei with a hug at the airport Wednesday in Melbourne, where Cheng’s two children, 11 and 14, have been raised by their grandmother while Cheng was detained.
“She was in extraordinarily good spirits. I think I was more emotional than she was,” Wong said of Cheng. “I think she’s pretty tough. She looked great.”
Wong revealed that she had promised Cheng’s children some time ago that the government would do all it could to bring their mother home.