On Monday, the 5th of February, a Beijing court sentenced Yang Hengjun, an Australian researcher and writer who wrote blogs on Chinese state affairs, to a suspended death sentence on espionage charges, which he denies. The sentence followed his arrest five years ago, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
The Australian government has expressed outrage at the sentence, which came shortly after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to China last year aimed at improving the strained relations between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Australia to request explanations and promised a strong government response, stressing the need to ensure justice, procedural fairness, and humane treatment for Yang in line with international norms and China’s legal obligations.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that Yang’s case was handled in accordance with the law, ensuring that his procedural and consular rights were respected.
Yang’s supporters claim that his detention constitutes “political persecution”,
pointing out that he has been punished for criticising human rights violations and defending universal values.
Yang, who worked in China’s Ministry of State Security, was called a “democracy peddler”, but his writings often avoided direct criticism of the government, according to the BBC.
Yang, who lived in New York, travelled to Guangzhou in January 2019 with his wife and child. He was detained at the airport while processing his visa. The 58-year-old’s case has largely taken place behind closed doors, culminating in a secret trial in 2021.
Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director, has highlighted that Yang’s case had a number of fair trial issues, including delayed and limited access to legal representation, a trial held behind closed doors, and claims that Yang was tortured and pressured to confess.
Foreign Minister Wong said that Yang still has a chance to appeal,
but his health is poor, and he is not receiving the medical care he needs, as his sons in Australia claim.
In November, prior to Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to Beijing, Yang’s sons had asked for the Prime Minister’s help to secure their father’s release, claiming that his health was deteriorating.
As Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute, has pointed out, the verdict against Yang Hengjun is expected to have a serious impact on China-Australia relations.
McGregor has said that the ruling highlights the opacity of the Chinese legal system and its inflexibility to reasonable foreign governments’ requests. He has suggested that the sentence indicates that Yang is likely to die in prison, highlighting the problems faced by those who challenge the Chinese system, writes the BBC.
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