FILE - Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, attends a public event in Beijing on Aug. 12, 2020. Cheng who worked for Chinas state broadcaster and was convicted on murky espionage charges during her three years in detention in China had been returned to Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanes said on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) (Ng Han Guan, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

CANBERRA – A Chinese-Australian journalist who was convicted on murky espionage charges and detained in China for three years has returned to Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday.

Cheng Lei has reunited with her two children in Melbourne, Albanese said. The 48-year-old Lei worked for the international department of China's state broadcaster CCTV.

“Her matter was concluded through the legal processes in China,” Albanese told reporters.

Her return comes ahead of Albanese's planned visit to Beijing this year on a date yet to be announced.

Albanese’s government has been lobbying for the release of Cheng and another Chinese-Australian held in China since 2019, Yang Hengjun.

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