I’m no spy: author Yang Hengjun rejects Beijing espionage claims

Detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun has rejected Chinese claims he confessed to spying ­offences, declaring his innocence and vowing to ‘fight to the end’.

Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been detained since January last year.

Detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun has rejected Chinese claims he confessed to spying ­offences, declaring his innocence and vowing to “fight to the end”.

Dr Yang, who is being held in a Beijing detention facility, was on Thursday able to meet with his lawyer for the first time since he was taken into custody in January last year.

The meeting followed a consular visit with Australian officials this week — his first in nine months — who told Dr Yang that Chinese authorities had claimed he “confessed” to unspecified espionage charges.

According to sources close to Dr Yang’s family, he rejected the claim as disinformation, insisting he had made no confession.

“I am innocent and will fight to the end. I will never confess to something I haven’t done,” he ­reportedly said.

“I did not confess to anything criminal,” he added. “This is political persecution.”

The belated legal and consular visits come as Australian authorities scramble to get more information on detained Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who is being held without charge at an undisclosed location.

The detention of the two Australians has thrown Australia-China relations further off course, and it comes amid growing trade sanctions by Beijing aimed at Australian exporters.

It is understood that Dr Yang’s claimed confession was conveyed to Australian diplomats by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The writer, who has faced sustained attempts by his captors to break his spirit, said he wanted to appear in court to publicly answer the charges against him.

“I was worried that Chinese authorities would make such claims when there can be no (local) media coverage,” he said. “They cannot create rumours like this.”

He said he was thinking of his Australian friends, and asked the embassy officials to send them his best regards.

Dr Yang, who was detained in January 2019 at Guangzhou airport, faces the death penalty if found guilty for the alleged offences, which have not been detailed by Chinese authorities.

The Morrison government has called for the Australian’s immediate release so he can leave China to be reunited with his wife and son in Australia.

His refusal to confess presents a problem for China’s justice system, which typically relies on ­confessions. It is understood his interrogators have questioned him on a wide range of topics, including his life in Australia, his time in the US, and Chinese government history.

China formally charged the Australian with espionage in March, ignoring months of back-channel negotiations by the federal government aimed at giving Beijing a diplomatic “off-ramp”.

Previous consular reports revealed Dr Yang was denied showers for up to a fortnight at a time, was refused letters from family and friends and was only allowed to read books written by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a November 2019 meeting with Australian officials, Dr Yang said he was managing his mental health as well as could be expected for someone who was living in a “subterranean concrete cage”.

Australian officials remain in the dark over Ms Cheng’s fate, after Beijing confirmed this week that the high-profile anchor for the English news channel, CGTN, had been detained.