Australian writer sentenced to death in China may never be executed, Chinese ambassador says

The death sentence given to imprisoned Australian writer Yang Hengjun may not be carried out if the former pro-democracy blogger commits no further crimes
A pro-democracy blogger and spy novelist, Yang is an Australian citizen born in China who was working in New York before his 2019 arrest at Guangzhou airport

Australia

ReutersandBloomberg

Published: 4:41pm, 11 Mar 2024

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China’s ambassador to Australia said on Monday that the suspended death sentence given last month to imprisoned Australian writer Yang Hengjun may not be carried out if the former pro-democracy blogger commits no further crimes.

The suspended sentence from a Beijing court on espionage charges does not entail immediate execution for Yang, Ambassador Xiao Qian said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Monday.

If Yang complies with the terms of his imprisonment and committed no further crimes, “theoretically there is a chance he will not be executed,” Xiao said.

His comments mark the first time a Chinese official has noted that Yang might not be executed. Xiao’s comments also echoed the sentiment of Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, who said last month that concerns over Yang’s sentence were unlikely to impact the outcome of China’s review of wine tariffs that is due later this month.

Yang Hengjun in Tibet autonomous region in July 2014, in this still photo taken from video. A Beijing court last month handed him a suspended death sentence on espionage charges. Photo: Reuters

Xiao also downplayed worries over Yang’s health on Monday and said it was not as grave as described by his family, although it was “not perfect”.

A pro-democracy blogger and spy novelist, Yang is an Australian citizen born in China who was working in New York before his arrest at the Guangzhou airport in 2019.

A Beijing court last month handed him a suspended death sentence on espionage charges, shocking his family and supporters, after five years in detention in Beijing and three years after his closed-door trial.

Yang opted not to appeal the decision, his family said, so as not to delay urgently needed medical care for a serious kidney condition. Yang remains in prison.

Details of the case have not been officially released.

03:06

Beijing court hands down suspended death sentence to Australian writer Yang Jun for spying

Yang has said he never worked as a spy for a foreign country, and in letters to his family from jail has denied any wrongdoing.

Yang worked for China’s Ministry of State Security for a decade starting in 1989, including in Hong Kong and Washington, before quitting and moving to Australia. The Chinese government has denied ever employing Yang.

A suspended death sentence in China gives the accused a two-year reprieve from being executed, after which the sentence is automatically converted to life imprisonment.

Yang’s family has said he is a political prisoner and “the absurdity of the 30-year-old espionage accusations that have been dredged up against him speaks to the prosecution’s failure to extract any kind of confession”.

Yang Hengjun displays a name tag in an unspecified location in Tibet in 2014 in this social media image. Yang has said he never worked as a spy for a foreign country, and in letters to his family from jail has denied any wrongdoing. Photo: Reuters

Australia’s ties with China have steadily improved since the election of a centre-left Labor government in May 2022, resulting in Beijing scrapping a number of trade measures imposed during a nadir in relations.

China initiated a five-month review into tariffs on Australian wine in late November. A similar review process with tariffs placed on Australian barley earlier last year had led to a lifting of the sanctions.

On the tariffs, the ambassador said: “We do have differences on many issues and we’re going to manage the differences wisely and maturely.”

“They’re now carrying out those investigations and things are moving on right tracks with the right direction,” Xiao said.