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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/13/thanks-for-the-free-rent-cheng-lei-jokes-about-china-detention-in-comedy-debut>
"Cheng Lei, the journalist who was detained in China for three years, has
offered to “reciprocate the hospitality” when the country’s premier, Li Qiang,
visits Australia later this week.
Making her comedy debut in a one-off show in Melbourne with Vicky Xu – a writer
and well-known Chinese dissident – Cheng joked that the premier had “got the
dates wrong” and would miss their performance.
She said if she had met him, she would have said: “Hello premier, thank you so
much for the rent-free accommodation. Can I please reciprocate the hospitality.
You look worried but I insist, don’t you want a bit of a digital detox
weight-loss program?”
Cheng said for much of her time in detention she was fed cabbage stew and
dreamed of “shoplifting a whole tray of meat pies from a bakery”. Since her
release in October, she said she’s enjoyed cheese toasties, pizzas, steaks and
many “chippies”.
“I’ve put on seven kilos since coming out of detention. It’s the first time in
my adult life I’ve been really happy about putting on weight,” Cheng said.
She said detention was “easy” compared to comedy but was keen to give it a go
for several reasons.
“First of all, I have endorsement from China’s ministry of state security,
because they think that I’m such a good performer that I’ve been embedded as a
spy in China for 20 years,” Cheng said.
She said also joked that while she tells her friends she was “in a dark place”
during her time in detention, the lights were always on in her cell.
“In the darkest hour of your life, the lights are always on. That’s the fucking
irony,” Cheng said.
The show, at Club Voltaire in North Melbourne on Thursday night, took the form
of an interview, in which the duo asked each other about their experiences
drawing the ire of Beijing."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
