It will be 3 years on Sunday since Australian journo Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese authorities. She worked for the state-owned English-language news channel CGTN before being found guilty of “illegally supplying state secrets overseas” in a closed trial last year. She’s still waiting to be sentenced… And last night, Cheng’s first public statement was released by her partner Nick Coyle. “Every year, the bedding is taken into the sun for 2 hours to air. When it came back last time, I wrapped myself in the doona and pretended I was being hugged by my family under the sun. I can’t believe I used to avoid the sun when I was living back in Australia,” she writes. She’s receiving regular consular visits, but Coyle says “the long-term separation from her children, that is, without doubt, the most difficult thing.” Our government continues to advocate for Cheng’s release with China’s government, as they do for detained author Yang Hengjun.