An Australian television journalist detained in China for more than 19 months will be put on trial, likely in a closed court, on state secrets charges that could see her face anything from a short sentence to life behind bars.
Cheng Lei, a former high-profile anchor for the Chinese government's English-language broadcaster CGTN, is facing accusations of providing state secrets or intelligence to foreigners or foreign organisations.
She has been held in Beijing since August 2020 and was initially denied access to lawyers while being detained under an extra-judicial interrogation process called "residential surveillance" at a prison.
Two people close to the case have confirmed to the ABC that Ms Cheng is due to be tried next Thursday in the Beijing No.2 People's Intermediate Court at 9am local time.
It is unlikely Australian diplomats will be permitted to observe the trial.
In May last year they were barred from attending the closed trial of Yang Hengjun, another Australian citizen who, like Ms Cheng, faced national security-related charges.
A Beijing-based lawyer representing Ms Cheng told the ABC he could not comment on any details of the trial.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne's office has been contacted for comment, as has the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Under China's criminal law, anyone who "provides state secrets or intelligence for an organisation, institution, or personnel outside the country faces a sentence of between five and 10 years, but particularly serious cases can be jailed for life".
The law states in "relatively minor" circumstances, an offender faces a maximum of five years with no stipulated minimum.
China's secretive Public Security authorities have revealed no details of the allegations against Ms Cheng, and government officials have only said that her case is being dealt with "strictly in accordance with law".
A friend of Ms Cheng, Beijing-based Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan, was also taken away by state security police in late 2020 and remains behind bars, but authorities have not publicly commented on whether the two cases are related.
China's embassy has previously accused the Australian government of "interference" after Senator Payne publicly called for a more transparent judicial process.
Ms Cheng's 10- and 12-year-old children live with family members in Melbourne.
Last year a spokeswoman for the family told the ABC she believed Ms Cheng would not have done anything intentionally to harm China's state security.
"We don't know if she's just been caught up in something that she herself didn't realise," her cousin Louisa Wen told the ABC in February 2021.
Her family has been contacted for comment.
