China-Australia relations: writer Yang Hengjun, jailed on the mainland, won’t appeal against suspended death sentence
- Yang, who has a serious kidney condition, won’t appeal against his sentence as doing so could lead to a delay in his receiving any supervised medical care
- A suspended death sentence in China gives Yang a two-year reprieve from being executed after which it is converted to life imprisonment
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 Guangzhou airport in 2019.
A Beijing court this month handed Yang 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.
The sentence was described as an “outrage” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and threatens a recent rebound in bilateral ties that followed several years of strained relations between Beijing and Canberra.
Yang’s family, including his two Australian-based sons and close friends, said in a statement on Wednesday that Yang had decided to waive his legal right to appeal against the suspended death sentence.