Australia concerned by journalist’s delayed verdict in China

Australia 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, the foreign minister said Friday.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong marked the first anniversary of the closed trial in Beijing with a statement saying her government had “advocated at every opportunity for Ms. Cheng to be reunited with her family.”
The anniversary comes as troubled relations between China and Australia show signs of improvement since Wong’s center-left Labor Party came to power in elections last year.
Cheng was born in China and was a journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television. She was detained in August 2019 and accused by China of sharing state secrets.