Detained Australian Writer Yang Hengjun Charged With Spying In China

A Chinese native, Yang Hengjun, who is now an Australian citizen, academic and writer has been arrested in China accused of “espionage”. The formal arrest occurred on Aug. 23 after Yang was held in Beijing without charges for several months, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement Tuesday.

Australia will now be added to the list of countries that are angry with China for its bullying tactics in the South China Sea and litany of human rights abuses.

Payne said, “We have serious concerns for Dr. Yang’s welfare, and about the conditions under which he is being held. If Dr. Yang is being held for his political beliefs, he should be released.” Payne also expressed concerns about “harsh conditions” and added, “We expect, that basic standards of justice and procedural fairness are met.”

In an era where transparency is almost a requirement for good faith negotiations, China has remained in near silence about Yang’s fate. Payne said she had “raised the case” five times with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in person and via letters.

Payne’s statement continued, “Dr Yang has been held in Beijing in harsh conditions without charge for more than seven months. Since that time, China has not explained the reasons for Dr Yang’s detention, nor has it allowed him access to his lawyers or family visits.”

Yang has been a popular blogger, political commentator and agitator for democratic reforms in China for more than a decade. He sometimes uses the pen name Wei Shi. In a 2014 article he wrote, “I’m like an old auntie jabbering on, always promoting democracy and repeating its benefits. Dictatorship is always torn down in one night, but good democracy isn’t built in one night.”

Comments like these have proven to draw the ire of the Communist People’s Republic of China, so they likely had targeted him for arrest knowing he was headed to the southern city of Guangzhou in January on a flight from New York.

His attorney was quoted by The Australian, “They don’t specify what the espionage relates to, but we are told it is espionage and it relates to his democracy activism.” The attorney also mentioned that Yang’s legal team held “particular anxiety” over the fact he had now been charged with an offense that potentially carried the death penalty.

One associate of Yang expressed outrage over his arrest. Dr. Feng Chongyi, another academic and a friend of Yang’s, was detained for a week and interrogated by authorities in China in 2017. He said there was no evidence to support any allegation of spying against Yang and said, “I am furious at the news. This is outrageous political persecution. I hope the international community will join hands to demand the release of Yang.”