Wong said his release would remove an obstacle to improving relations between the two countries.
“I think it would be beneficial not only to the individuals, which I think is important in itself, but it would be beneficial to the relationship to deal with those consular matters,” she said.
Cheng, a mother of two and former anchor at Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, was formally arrested in February 2021 and charged with “supplying state secrets overseas”.
Chinese-born Australian Yang Jun, also known by the pen name Yang Hengjun, wrote a series of detective novels and a popular Chinese-language blog. He has been accused of espionage by Beijing and tried behind closed doors.