A Journey of Survival and Expression
For over three years, Cheng Lei was wrongfully imprisoned in China on charges of espionage. Today, she is a journalist who has turned her painful experience into a powerful theatrical production titled 1154 Days. This play, which premiered at Arts House in Melbourne, is a reflection of her time spent in detention and the emotional journey that followed.
Lei’s story begins with her early life in Australia. As a teenager, she was hesitant to take part in her high school theatre production. “I was a nerd, I was fugly. My friends and I called ourselves the underdogs,” she recalls. “We were a motley crew, and I was too scared, too chicken shit, to go to that audition.”
Now, as a television journalist born in China, she is starring in her own theatre production, a bold step that marks her return to the stage after years of struggle. The title 1154 Days refers to the number of days she spent in detention, a period that tested her resilience and shaped her perspective on life.
The production is more than just a recounting of her incarceration. It explores the concept of facing life when everything has been stripped away. For Lei, creating the show has been an act of emancipation. “A part of doing justice to freedom is to throw myself at life in a much more daring way, compared to if I hadn’t gone through this terrible experience,” she explains.
In August 2020, while presenting China’s government-run Global Business TV show in Beijing, Lei was confronted by officers from the Ministry of State Security. She was blindfolded and taken to a secret location, where she was held under constant surveillance in one of China’s black jails, known as Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL).
During her time in detention, Lei had to find ways to survive. She relied on her imagination, memories, and connections with other prisoners and even her captors. Despite being cut off from family and the outside world, she found strength in small moments of human connection.
After being released in 2023, Lei returned to Australia, but the effects of her long absence continue to impact her life. She has had to navigate the challenges of reconnecting with her two children and rebuilding her personal and professional life.
Despite the trauma, Lei has not shied away from sharing her story. In 2025, she released a book and a Sky News documentary detailing her experiences. While some might be reluctant to revisit such painful memories, she sees the theatre production as an opportunity to raise awareness about important issues.
She hopes to tour 1154 Days internationally, shedding light on hostage diplomacy, the RSDL system, and the activities of China’s Ministry of State Security. “I’m still here and I can tell my version of the story, not the bullshit they spin on the Chinese internet about me,” she says.
Lei believes Australians may have some awareness of how China treats political prisoners, but she feels that even those involved in the production, like co-directors Emma Valente and Clyde White, were surprised by the level of psychological control she endured. She also highlights the extent to which the Chinese government has infiltrated the diaspora community.
“People don’t know the full extent of what’s happening because China pays so much to coerce people into doing their dirty work and buys the support of a lot of local community leaders,” she explains.
1154 Days will run from May 28 to 31 at Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall. Through this production, Cheng Lei continues to share her story, not only as a survivor but as a voice for others who have faced similar struggles.
