Australia blasts China for arrest of Australian writer Yang Hengjun on spying charges
Australia hit out at China for arresting an Australian writer on allegations of spying. Now China has returned fire.
National
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China has warned Australia not to interfere in the case of a dual citizen charged with espionage in Beijing.
Chinese-Australian writer and academic Yang Hengjun could face the death penalty if the spying charges against him stand.
The Chinese foreign ministry has urged Australia to respect its sovereignty.
“China is a country with rule of law and Australia should earnestly respect China’s judicial sovereignty and stop interfering in China’s case-handling in any form,” its spokesman Geng Shuang said.
Beijing has a long history of arresting dissidents, including dual nationals.
Experts are now urging Australia to update its travel advice for China.
Dr Yang’s Melbourne-based lawyer Rob Stary said the allegations against him were baseless.
“We think it relates to espionage on behalf of Australia, but it’s not specified on the charge sheet,” Mr Stary told AAP.
“We’d obviously be disturbed by that, if it was the allegation, because there is absolutely no foundation for it at all.”
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Dr Yang is a former Chinese diplomat who went on to become a pro-democracy campaigner and was made an Australian citizen in 2002.
The 54-year-old was detained in Guangzhou in January after flying into the country from New York.
He has been detained in Beijing ever since.
In a strongly worded statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne hit out at Beijing saying Australia was “very concerned and disappointed” by the former Sydney-based writer’s arrest and continued detention.
There are “serious concerns” for the Chinese-born Australian citizen’s welfare, Senator Payne said as she reiterated her call for Dr Yang’s release if he was being held because of his political views.
“Dr Yang has been held in Beijing in harsh conditions without charge for more than seven months,” the minister said.
“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.”
The novelist, who has written a trilogy of spy novels about a China-US double agent, was visiting China from the United States, where he has worked since 2017 as a visiting scholar at Columbia University.
Senator Payne said the Australian government expected Dr Yang to be treated in accordance with international human rights law, noting there were provisions that “prohibit torture and inhumane treatment, guard against arbitrary detention and that protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”.
“We have serious concerns for Dr Yang’s welfare, and about the conditions under which he is being been held,” she said.
“We have expressed these in clear terms to the Chinese authorities.
“It is important, and we expect, that basic standards of justice and procedural fairness are met.
“I respectfully reiterate my previous requests that if Dr Yang is being held for his political beliefs, he should be released.”
Senator Payne said she had already raised Dr Yang’s detention twice with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and had written to him three times over the matter.
“I will continue to advocate strongly on behalf of Dr Yang to ensure a satisfactory explanation of the basis for his arrest, that he is treated humanely and that he is allowed to return home.”
Dr Yang has been an Australian citizen since 2002 and studied for his doctorate at the University of Technology Sydney.