The TV star who would make the ideal Beijing cellmate

Moment
Cheng Lei: moment of freedom
Harper Collins, $ 35.99

No one’s plan is A, but if you need to lock in Beijing, you can do it worse than having Cheng Lei as a cell friend. It would be a good company if there was something to pass on three years in the mercy of the Chinese justice system. And it can create a birthday cake from donuts and some snacks.

The tragedy of being held for three years, which is admirable in creativity and flexibility in the face of difficulty, should never endure them.

The crime of the Chinese-Australian TV server, as explained, was sending a message to a friend in another news organization seven minutes before an embargo on which he was unaware of, the government’s economic growth targets. Given the COVİD-19 pandemi, the Prime Minister’s Failure to set a growth target was the news that was an understandable choice as a rupture of the decades of peers. Eight words were sent to the Bloomberg Newswire correspondent from a business program on the CGTN network operated by the state at 7.23. Aside from the capital, almost a criminal does not seem.

In the hands of the Ministry of State Security, he was twisted into a espionage case; Any of Cheng’s contact with business figures, diplomats and politicians was trawl to find something remotely accusing. All of them were an excuse: the Minister kept him and others under supervision shortly after demanding an independent investigation into the origin of the Australian government’s Covid-19 pandema. From the outside, we knew that more continued; Trade restrictions on Australian exports, journalists were expelled from the country. Now we have Cheng’s opinion from the inside.

“This is not a hostage diplomacy,” one of Cheng’s interrogators said. But later, Cheng realized his role in a “Human Chess” play in which people were locked for diplomatic gain.

Since Cheng’s memory explores how each episode is so unfair for so long, it moves away like an unforgettable onion. He was kept in the dark about his case, forced to accept a prison task, and he was treated as numerously ill -thinned.

Throughout everything, Cheng managed to keep his humanity and power intact, found unexpected friends and allies, and desperately thought of his children, partner, parents and diplomats working to liberate him.