Verdict before trial for accused Aussie Yang Hengjun

The CCP’s political and legal affairs commission will soon arrange the sentencing of detained Australian Yang Hengjun before his espionage case is heard in a Beijing court.

Dr Yang Hengjun

The Chinese Communist Party’s powerful political and legal affairs commission will soon arrange the sentencing of detained Australian Yang Hengjun before his espionage case is heard in a Beijing court.

A party committee involving members from Beijing’s second intermediate court, China’s state prosecutors and the country’s secret police will decide his verdict ahead of the upcoming trial, according to Feng Chongyi, a friend of Dr Yang’s and a professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

“The power does not rest with the judge or the court. It will be decided higher up,” Professor Feng told The Australian. “The court itself is a formality.”

The highly politicised 21-month long state security case against the charismatic 55-year-old writer has been moved into Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court for trial, with a judge to be assigned within a fortnight. A verdict is expected within three months of the judge’s appointment.

The investigation into a man dubbed the “vendor of democracy” by fans of his prolific political writing has coincided with the sharp deterioration of the Australian-China bilateral relationship.

Dr Yang — who reportedly once worked for China’s state security, making him one of Australia’s most unusual consular cases — was detained at Guangzhou airport in January 2019, less than six months after the Turnbull government became the first to ban the Chinese firm Huawei.

Chinese police on patrol outside the Australian embassy in Beijing. Picture: AFP

The espionage charge against the Australian comes after trade reprisals on beef, barley and wine, as Beijing expressed its unhappiness over the Morrison government’s advocacy of an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

Dr Yang’s lawyers said the charge was lodged on October 7. That was two days after China’s former ambassador in Canberra, Fu Ying, said Australia and China needed to “increase mutual understanding and trust” in an apparently conciliatory interview with Australian media.

In response to Dr Yang’s charge, Scott Morrison said China’s legal system was “very different from the system here in Australia and that can cause some anxiety”.

Dr Yang’s lawyers have not yet seen the Chinese prosecutor’s indictment, which includes the evidence against him, the proposed sentence and the formal charge.

“We all know that that’s espionage,” said Professor Feng, who has been in regular contact with Dr Yang’s legal team.

Professor Feng said he believed Dr Yang’s political writing was the real cause of his detention and “more than 300” interrogation sessions. “It’s their typical approach. They won’t talk about your writing — they will always find something else,” he said.

Dr Yang has always maintained his innocence, telling family he would “never confess to something I haven’t done”.

As well as running an online store, Dr Yang had a huge following for his writing on democracy, Hong Kong and internet governance, fraught subjects in President Xi Jinping’s China.

In March, the ABC reported that Dr Yang had previously worked in junior roles in China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s peak intelligence agency. Foreign Minister Marise Payne has said “there is no basis for any allegation Dr Yang was spying for the Australian government”.