Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who had spent more than three years in detention in Beijing on national security grounds, was released on Wednesday and returned home, according to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Albanese announced at a press conference that Cheng, tried in secret in March 2022, had arrived in Melbourne and had been reunited with her two children and family.

“(The) government has been seeking this for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends but by all Australians,” he stated.

He claimed her release would occur after China’s legal procedures were finished. The Chinese judicial system was silent at the time of this writing.

When Cheng, 48, was arrested in August 2020 for allegedly sharing state secrets with another country, she was a business television anchor for Chinese state television.

Australia had expressed concerns about her detention on numerous occasions, which coincided with China expanding export restrictions on Australian goods during a diplomatic dispute that is now waning.

Albanese, who claimed to have spoken to Cheng, described Cheng as a “very strong and resilient person.”

In a letter to Australia that was made public in August, Cheng expressed how much she missed her children, ages 11 and 14, who stayed with their grandmother in Melbourne while Cheng was held captive. In her first statement to the public following her arrest, she stated, “In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year.”

In the past three years, I haven’t seen a tree. I relive every beach, river, lake, and bushwalk, complete with picnics, swimming, and surreal sunsets. I mumble the names of places I’ve traveled through and visited in private.

According to Albanese, Australia “continued to advocate” for Yang Hengjun, an Australian journalist detained since January 2019. Albanese informed reporters that he planned to visit China this year and called dialogue with China “a good thing”. Before making official trips to Australia’s largest trading partner, Albanese had come under pressure from the public to get Cheng’s release.