Australian reporter released from China

A high-profile Australian journalist, Cheng Lei, detained for over three years on charges related to national security, has returned home after being released, Australia's prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.

- Sutirtho Patranobis

"I am pleased to confirm that Ms Cheng Lei has arrived safely home in Australia, and has been reunited with her two children and her family. I spoke with her on the phone this afternoon.

This is an outcome the Australian government has been seeking for a long time," Albanese said on X (formerly Twitter.) Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, met Cheng, who is ethnic Chinese, at the Melbourne airport.

"Her return brings an end to a very difficult few years for her family. The government has been seeking this for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends but by all Australians," Albanese was quoted by Reuters as saying at a press conference, adding that the matter "was concluded through the legal processes in China".