Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun detained in China

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne have called on China to deal “fairly” with Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, who has been detained.

Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been reported missing in China. Picture: Supplied

Australia is “very concerned” about China’s detention of an Australian writer but “at this stage” it doesn’t appear linked to the international backlash against Chinese company Huawei, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne says.

Consular officials in Beijing are still urgently seeking answers from the Chinese government about the reason for Yang Hengjun’s detention and any possible charges he might be facing, the Minister said in a press conference this afternoon.

She added that the Australian government was “seeking clarification” on whether Mr Yang’s detention was in any way linked to backlash against Huawei but added there was no evidence of it “at this stage”.

Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Picture: AP

“I’d be concerned if there was an indication of that. We are calling on the Chinese authorities to ensure this matter is dealt with transparently and fairly,” Senator Payne said.

“Our embassy in Beijing has today had an initial meeting with Chinese authorities earlier this afternoon,” she told reporters in Sydney.

“We have requested - and we do expect - consular access at the earliest possible opportunity.

“That’s in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement.

“We are also seeking, as a government, further clarification from the Chinese authorities as a priority on the nature of the detention and of any possible charges against Mr Yang.

“We will continue to make representations to China to make sure this is dealt with transparently and fairly.”

China sentenced a Canadian citizen to death over drug charges and detained two other citizens following Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Hauwei founder Ren Zhengfei, in December.

Australia blocked Huawei from building the nation’s 5G network in August.

Her comments came as former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, now president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, added his voice to calls for China to allow Australian officials access to Mr Yang.

“Yang Hengjun is an [Australian] citizen just like the rest of us with equal rights and protections. China has an international legal obligation under Art 12 of our 1999 Treaty for full consular access & to advise what Chinese law he is alleged to have breached,” he wrote on Twitter.

China confirmed it detained the prominent Australian-Chinese writer after friends reported him missing.

Australian authorities are now urgently seeking access to Yang Hengjun, who is an Australian citizen.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: AAP

Yang Hengjun is a pro-democracy internet blogger and novelist and thinker on Chinese politics.

Chinese authorities informed the Australian Embassy in Beijing yesterday that they had detained Mr Yang, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement this morning.

“The Department is seeking to clarify the nature of this detention and to obtain consular access to him, in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement, as a matter of priority,” the statement said.

The Australian citizen, who has recently been living in New York, reportedly returned to China last week with his family despite cautions from friends that it might not be safe.

Yang Hengjun has been critical of the Chinese government. Picture: Supplied

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Yang’s detention was “very concerning” and the “slow response” from China to inform Australia was “disappointing”.

“You can’t sugar-coat this. This is an Australian citizen who has been detained in China,” he told ABC News Breakfast this morning.

“I’m very supportive of all efforts to reach out to him, to get to the bottom of what is happening. But it is very concerning. I can’t pretend otherwise.”

According to a report in The Australian, friends of Mr Yang believe he was detained by a group of security officials after he went through customs in Guangzhou airport on his Australian passport last weekend.

Mr Yang’s friend, University of Technology Sydney academic Feng Chongyi, reportedly told The Australian that the writer had taken a flight fromfrom New York to Guangzhou with his wife and her daughter on January 18, arriving in China early the next day. They were reportedly then supposed to get a connecting flight to Shanghai.

“But they did not take the original flight and by 7pm on Saturday the 19th, Yan Jun wife and daughter arrived in Shanghai without Yang Jun,” Dr Feng told The Australian.

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Yang Hengjun was travelling to Beijing with his wife and her daughter. Picture: Supplied

Dr Feng told The Australian the officials took Mr Yang to Beijing. His wife, Yuan Rui Juan, was reportedly allowed to drop off her young child in Shanghai before also travelling to Beijing.

“My judgment is they were interrogated by [authorities] in Guangzhou airport for 12 hours and reached some sort of agreement that his wife was allowed to send the child back to family in Shanghai but required to join Yang Jun in Beijing,” Dr Feng told The Australian.

Dr Feng also believes that Mr Yang is being held by the Ministry of State Security on espionage changes, but this has not been confirmed by Chinese authorities.

Mr Yang’s disappearance will cast a pall over Defence Minister Christopher Pyne’s visit to China.

On Wednesday, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement it is “seeking information about an Australian citizen who has been reported missing in China. Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment.”

In 2011, Yang disappeared for a brief time in China after he said he was being followed at an airport.

The incident comes after Australia slammed China over the detention of two Canadian citizens, entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, seen as possible retaliation against Ottawa’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Dr Feng, who has been in contact with Yang’s family and friends, said Mr Yang’s disappearance was “directly linked to the Huawei case.”

Yang Hengjun has been reported missing in China. Picture: Supplied

“I see his arrest as the extension of Chinese hostage diplomacy to take him as a hostage to press the Australian government and the Canadian government, American government,” Dr Feng told the ABC.

US based free-speech advocacy group PEN America called for Yang’s immediate release, saying he was being held for his critiques of the Chinese government.

“It’s obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it weren’t for his previous critical writings,” said the organisation’s Summer Lopez in a statement.

“Yang’s seizure is yet another indicator that the Chinese government’s repression of free expression extends not only to its own citizens but to citizens of other countries.

“PEN America joins those calling on China to immediately release Yang Hengjun and to allow him freedom to travel.”

Ms Lopez, who is the PEN America Senior Director of Free Expression Programs, said Yang had been living for the past two years in New York city as visiting scholar at Columbia University.

Originally published as Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun detained in China