Australian journalist Cheng Lei faced a closed door trial in China on Thursday after 18 months in detention over accusations of supplying state secrets, with Canberra saying the decision to deny its ambassador access to the hearing was "deeply concerning."

Cheng -- a mother-of-two and a former anchor on Beijing's state broadcaster CGTN -- has been held in detention since August 2020. In February last year she was formally arrested for "illegally supplying state secrets overseas."

But Chinese authorities have given no further information on the allegations against her, diplomats say.

"We have been denied entry into the trial," Australian ambassador to China Graham Fletcher told reporters outside the Beijing court on Thursday.

"This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and very regrettable. We can have no confidence in the validity of a process which is conducted in secret."

Diplomats could not confirm if the trial had begun as scheduled.

Cheng could face life imprisonment if deemed to have committed serious violations of China's national security laws.

A statement from her family said "her two children and elderly parents miss her immensely and sincerely hope to reunite with her as soon as possible."

Concerns have swirled in Canberra over her welfare and detention conditions, with foreign minister Marise Payne urging China to meet "basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment... in accordance with international norms".

Ambassador Fletcher assuaged some of those worries on Thursday, saying "she is bearing up OK" and had chosen "very competent lawyers" to defend her.

Born in central China's Hunan province, Cheng emigrated to Australia as a child and later acquired citizenship of her adoptive country -- likely ditching her Chinese passport as Beijing does not permit its citizens to hold dual nationality.

After returning to China and joining the state broadcaster in 2012, she became a familiar face on CGTN and hosted interviews with noted CEOs from around the world.

- Broader tensions -

Cheng's detention came as relations between Australia and China plunged to their lowest level in years.

Beijing has lashed out at Australia's use of foreign interference laws to block Chinese investment in sensitive sectors and examine Chinese influence on the country's public life.

Canberra's repeated calls for an independent enquiry into the origins of Covid-19 -- which first emerged in China over two years ago -- have also raised Beijing's hackles.

Weeks before she disappeared, Australian authorities raided the homes of Chinese state media journalists as part of a foreign interference probe.

The timing of Cheng's detention and the lack of clarity about the charges against her led to speculation that her detention was politically motivated or tit-for-tat retaliation.

Two Australian journalists, Bill Birtles and Michael Smith, later fled China after being questioned about Cheng.

Months after her detention, Chinese authorities also detained Bloomberg News employee Haze Fan -- a Chinese citizen -- on allegations of endangering national security.

Another Chinese-born Australian, writer Yang Jun, has been accused by Beijing of espionage and is facing a trial that started last year behind closed doors.

Australian, Canadian judges to stay on Hong Kong top court
Hong Kong (AFP) March 31, 2022 - Australian and Canadian judges confirmed Thursday they will stay on Hong Kong's top court after two senior British judges resigned to avoid endorsing China's crackdown on political freedoms in the financial hub.

Judges from common law jurisdictions are invited to sit as non-permanent members at Hong Kong's top court, which is separate from mainland China's opaque, party-controlled legal system.

UK Supreme Court President Robert Reed and fellow judge Patrick Hodge resigned from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday, saying the government had "departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression".

Four of the ten remaining overseas judges -- who unlike Reed and Hodge are retired -- have said they will remain, including Australian judges William Gummow, Anthony Murray Gleeson and Robert French.

"We do not intend to resign and we support the judges of the Court of Final Appeal in their commitment to judicial independence," Gummow, Gleeson and French told AFP in a joint statement.

Former Canadian chief justice Beverley McLachlin also said she would remain.

"The court is operating as an independent, judicial branch of government -- perhaps the last surviving strong institution of democracy," McLachlin told The Globe and Mail.

The six remaining members, who are retired British judges, have not made clear if they will stay or resign.

Legal analysts say they could come under pressure to follow Reed and Hodge in stepping down.

"I would be surprised if this very significant step... did not give the others very serious pause for thought," British lawyer Schona Jolly wrote on Twitter.

They include David Neuberger, a former head of Britain's Supreme Court, and Jonathan Sumption, who also used to sit on the UK's top court.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday that Hong Kong's national security law -- imposed by China in 2020 after months of democracy protests in the city -- had led to a "systematic erosion of liberty and democracy".

Truss added it was "no longer tenable" for serving British judges to sit on Hong Kong's top court, as it would risk "legitimising oppression".

China said it "strongly deplored" the move, which was also criticised by Hong Kong's two professional legal bodies, the Law Society and the Bar Association.

"We have made representations to the UK government to express our position and to urge them not to interfere," Bar Association chair Victor Dawes told reporters Thursday.

He also argued it was too early to tell if the security law had negatively impacted Hong Kong.

But local lawyer and former student leader Kenneth Lam said Hong Kong had become a place where "speech can be criminalised, critics of the regime can be jailed, and those awaiting trial can be kept behind bars for years."

"How much of a price must we pay before we are willing to face the fact that Hong Kong, once an international city that respects free speech and personal freedom, has become unrecognisable," he wrote on Facebook.

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Australian journalist to stand trial in China on state secrets charges
Beijing (AFP) March 30, 2022
Australian journalist Cheng Lei will face trial in China on Thursday after 18 months in detention on charges of supplying state secrets, in a case that has sent relations between Beijing and Canberra plummeting. Cheng - a former anchor on Beijing's state broadcaster CGTN - has been detained since August 2020 and in February last year was formally arrested for "illegally supplying state secrets overseas". She will appear at a Beijing court on Thursday morning for what is expected to be a closed ... read more