Thread by @WilliamYang120

My latest: Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been detained in #China for more than 1000 days, yet the court has yet to announce the final verdict. Her partner, @FreeChengLei, has a message for #Beijing: this needs to end. dw.com/zh/%E6%88%90%E…

So far, the court in #China has only ruled on Cheng's case once, in a closed-door trial and the verdict has been postponed for another three months in April.

"She is still receiving her regular 30-minute consular visits. The more pleasing aspect is that these visits are now able to be done in person. This is a really good development.

She’s handling things as well as she possibly can, and the biggest thing that really gives her a lot of concern is obviously the ongoing situation and being away from her children."

"During the consular visits, family and myself are able to pass on messages for the consular officials to read out, and she can send messages back.

During the monthly consular visits, they often pick up the letter from her to distribute to her family and myself."

On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong urged #China to let Cheng be reunited with her children, and reiterated Canberra's concern about the delay in her case.

Some experts told me that the Australian government should continue to press the Chinese government for transparency in Cheng Lei's case.

"The profound lack of transparency in her case and the lack of consistent consular or family visits should continue to remain a key issue for the Australian government in its discussions with Chinese officials," said @DGavshon.

Gavshon adds that human rights should always be a key part of Australia’s diplomatic relationships, especially as the government re-engages with China.

"The cases of individuals like Cheng Lei become increasingly urgent when those detained have limited to no access to lawyers, family or consular staff," she told me.

Cheng Lei's partner, Nick Coyle, said the Australian government has been excellent in handling Cheng's case and they’ve been "proactive and responsive."

"They have certainly highlighted the importance of Lei’s case in the context of both countries and both governments seeking to repair the bilateral relationship.

They have certainly made Australia’s position clear to Beijing, that this horrible situation must be brought to a swift and compassionate resolution."

Cheng isn't the only Australian citizen who's been detained by the Chinese government under espionage-related charges. Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun is still waiting for a court in China to hand down prison sentence related to his espionage case.

While Cheng and Yang's arrests happened at a time when bilateral relations between #China and Australia deteriorated, some observers say it's difficult to determine if the practices are the same as Beijing's typical hostage diplomacy.

"Cheng's case is still different from the case of the two Canadians, whose arrests were a clear retribution to Canada's arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou," said @Yaqiu.

While it's not clear what may have caused Cheng's arrest, Wang told me that the case has definitely created a chilling effect among foreigners living or working in #China.

"None of Cheng's basic human rights have been guaranteed, and given the fact that there is almost no information about her case, it shows that China's crackdown on human rights has intensified."

Coyle said none of the information about Cheng's case that he has acquired makes sense to him.

"I know her as well as anybody and the idea that she would have access to any privileged information doesn’t make a lot of sense."

"In the context of her professional career as a journalist in China, she was always seeking to highlight positive stories around business and I think she did a lot of good to promote foreign businesses in China or Chinese busiensses overseas.

"Overwhelmingly, she saw that as her role as a business journalist to tell good stories and positive stories about economic engagement," he told me.

"I can appreciate that China’s got a system and process and it needs to run through that. But the message I would say is I would hope all efforts are made to ensure that whatever process needs to run through will be undertaken as quickly as possible.

I think this whole situation can get resolved as compassionately as possible and that Lei can get home to her kids as quickly as possible."