In 2020, Cheng Lei was working as a business reporter for China's state-run English language television station when she was arrested on charges of sharing state secrets. She was detained in China for over three years under harsh conditions, including prolonged solitary confinement and restricted access to her family, before finally being released.
Now, back in Australia and free to write and speak her mind, Lei recounts her story in A Memoir of Freedom, an extraordinary memoir of her arrest, trial, imprisonment – and most importantly, her survival. Written with vivid immediacy, this new book is a powerful meditation on hope, freedom and the power of the human spirit.
In conversation with James Scullin, Lei offers a complex, deeply personal account of her experience in confinement, resisting black-and-white thinking in favour of a more nuanced view.
This event was recorded on Wednesday 18 June 2025.
It was presented in partnership with Asia Society Australia.
The official bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.
Featured music is ‘Travelling Again’ by Sarah the Illstrumentalist.
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