Australia concerned journalist still awaits verdict in China

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong says her government remains deeply concerned that Australian journalist Cheng Lei has not learned of a verdict a year after standing trial in China on national security charges. Wong marked the anniversary Friday of the closed trial in Beijing with a statement that said her government had advocated for Cheng to be reunited with her family and they shared concerns about the delay in her case. Troubled relations between China and Australia show signs of improvement since Wong’s center-left Labor Party came to power at elections last year. In January, Wong also marked the anniversary of China’s detention of Chinese-Australian writer and blogger Yang Hengjun, who was tried on an espionage charge in 2021 and still awaits a verdict.