[2][3][4][5] Cheng has investigated editorial wars between Wikipedia editors,[6] political censorship in Hong Kong's libraries, the Hong Kong government's attempt to lobby the U.S. Congress, and Chinese asylum seekers in the United States.

[7][8] Cheng previously served as Hong Kong reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering China's energy and automobile sectors from 2022 to 2024.

[3] On 22 June 2024, Cheng was elected 100 to 2 as chair at the association's Annual General Meeting, succeeding Ronson Chan.

[16] Statements were issued by Human Rights Watch, the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, the Asia chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, Reporters Without Borders, Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, NewsGuild, the Faculty of the Columbia Journalism School, and the HKJA.

[2][3][17][12][18] The Congressional-Executive Commission on China's official Twitter account noted its chairs were "tracking concerns" about Cheng's firing.