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John Power

Agence France-Presse

Canberra on Friday said it was “deeply disappointed” with the criminal detention of an Australian-Chinese writer in China, demanding Beijing release him if he is being held for “his political views”.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia had received confirmation on Friday that Yang Hengjun, held by Chinese authorities since January, had been transferred to criminal detention, apparently on national security grounds.
In a strongly-worded statement, Payne said the government had raised Yang’s case repeatedly with Beijing at senior levels and written twice to China’s foreign minister requesting a “fair and transparent” resolution, as well as access to his lawyer.
“This has not occurred. The government has expressed concern about Dr Yang’s welfare and the conditions under which he is held,” Payne said.
China finally charges dissident Australian dual national: lawyer
Payne also said she had still not received clarification as to why Yang, also known as Yang Jun, was being held.
“If he is being detained for his political views, then he should be released,” she said.
Payne’s remarks marked an unusually strident intervention in the case, which Australia has for the most part handled quietly behind the scenes.

“Foreign Minister Payne’s statement clearly reflects frustration and disappointment at China’s opaque and politically motivated detention of Dr Yang,” said Alex Joske, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“The statement is much more direct than previous ones on the issue, and it raises the possibility that Dr Yang is being detained for his political views. This may reflect a tougher approach by the Australian government, especially in light of growing concern about China’s concentration camps in Xinjiang.”
Clive Hamilton, the author of Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia, said the government’s statement represented a “significant toughening of the language Australia has been using on this and similar issues”.
“The world is starting to realise that Beijing’s tantrum diplomacy is a sign of weakness,” he said.
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China deplores the statement made by the Australian foreign minister and urges the Australian side not to interfere in China’s lawful handling of the case in any way and stop issuing irresponsible remarks,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Friday.
On Thursday, Chongyi Feng, a friend of Yang’s and associate professor at the University of Technology, criticised the Australian government for failing to publicly lobby for the Australian citizen’s release, accusing Canberra of being afraid of offending its biggest trading partner.
Yang, an author, blogger and democracy advocate, had been held in a secret location since being detained in January soon after making a rare return to China from his current residence in the United States. The foreign ministry in Beijing said then he was suspected of endangering “China’s national security” – which often implies espionage allegations.
Yang’s friends and associates have accused Beijing of targeting the former diplomat, who previously worked at the Chinese foreign ministry, for political reasons. Yang, who emigrated to Australia in the 1990s, was once described as China’s “most influential political blogger” for writings that included criticisms of Beijing’s suppression of democracy and alleged interference overseas.

James Laurenceson, acting director of the Australia-China Relations Institute in Sydney, said the case would have a negative impact on Australia-China relations.
“The People’s Republic of China authorities would have been aware that the Australian government was striving to take an understated approach, in the face of widespread criticism, including by Yang’s supporters, that it should be more vocal,” Laurenceson said.
“Yet still basic standards of justice failed to be applied. The experience and outcome of this case will inevitably factor into Australian government thinking going forward. It will also do nothing to arrest the decline in Australian public sentiment towards the PRC more generally,” he said.
Until this week, Yang was being held under “residential surveillance at a designated location, a form of detention that allows authorities to hold people for serious crimes.
Payne confirmed on Friday that he had been transferred to a criminal detention centre.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters on Thursday that Yang’s case remained under investigation.“The Chinese national security department handles the case in strict accordance with the law and fully protects Yang Jun’s lawful rights,” he said.
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Australia ‘deeply disappointed’ over China’s detention of author Yang Hengjun

Writer Yang Hengjun with his wife Xiaoliang Yuan. Photo: Handout

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne addresses the media in Sydney, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Payne urged China to treat Chinese-Australian writer, Yang Hengjun, fairly and transparently, adding there was no evidence that his detention almost a week ago was part of a backlash against Canada's arrest of a top Chinese telecommunications executive. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

Author Yang Hengjun. Photo: Reuters

Yang Hengjun: China has charged dissident Australian dual national detained since January, lawyer says

Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, pictured in Tibet in 2014. Photo: Reuters

Marise Payne, Australia's foreign minister, asks a question at the Media Freedom conference, co-hosted by the U.K. and Canadian Foreign Offices, in London, U.K., on Wednesday, July 10, 2019. U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch's direct boss at the Foreign Office, hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying the president's outburst had been "disrespectful and wrong." Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

The Library of Columbia University is seen as students walk the campus in the Harlem borough of New York, U.S., December 16, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, who is now an Australian citizen, display a name tag in an unspecified location in Tibet, China, mid-July, 2014 in this social media image obtained by REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

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‘If he is being detained for his political views, then he should be released,’ foreign minister Payne said
She said Canberra had raised the dissident’s case repeatedly with Beijing at senior levels


‘If he is being detained for his political views, then he should be released,’ foreign minister Payne said.


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