Australian writer Yang Hengjun detained in China set to face trial in Beijing

Blogger, 55, was detained in January 2019 after arriving from New York

Friend says Yang’s lawyers were told on Wednesday that his case had been transferred to the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court

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Australian writer Yang Hengjun is set to face trial on an espionage charge in Beijing soon. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:40am, 10 Oct 2020Updated: 8:43pm, 10 Oct 2020

Detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun will face trial in Beijing on an espionage charge with a judge expected to be appointed in the next fortnight, friends said on Saturday.

The 55-year-old blogger was detained by authorities in January 2019 at Guangzhou Airport in southern China after arriving from New York. He has been held in a Beijing detention facility with no access to his family, while his wife remains in China.

His Beijing lawyers were notified on Wednesday that Yang’s case had been transferred to the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court, a friend said.

A judge is expected to be appointed in the next two weeks to hear the case, said Feng Chongyi, a friend of Yang’s and professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

Yang Hengjun has been in detention since January last year and his wife Xiaoliang Yuan has been refused permission to leave China. Photo: Handout

The Australian government said on Saturday it had been told that “Chinese authorities have decided to prosecute Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun on charges yet to be announced”.