Australian government says it was not told why business journalist Cheng Lei was detained in China

This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.Australia’s trade minister Simon Birmingham said Canberra didn’t know why Chinese authorities had detained Australian citizen Cheng Lei, as he warned that the risks for Australian businesses engaged with China had changed. The Australian government confirmed on Monday evening that Cheng, a high-profile business anchor on Chinese state television, had been detained two weeks ago.

The Australian embassy was given consular access to Cheng via video link on Aug. 27, he said. Cheng has two children, both in Australia.Australia’s former ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, a business consultant, said Cheng was a long-time friend and experienced journalist, who had interviewed him many times for her business program.

“She held a degree of skepticism toward some Chinese media, but she was equally strong in arguing China’s case if foreign reporting mischaracterized China or was not based on facts,” Raby told Reuters in an interview.

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