Reporter formally arrested

Beijing: China yesterday formally arrested Australian journalist Cheng Lei after six months in detention.

Cheng stands accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas. She has been detained since August 2020.

The Australian Government had raised its serious concerns about Cheng’s detention regularly at senior levels, including about her welfare and conditions of detention, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said yesterday.

‘‘We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms,’’ she said. — AAP