Australia says citizen is in arbitrary detention in China

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia considers the incarceration of a Chinese Australian writer who has been tried in Beijing for alleged espionage a case of arbitrary detention, the foreign minister said.

Yang Hengjun faced a closed trial on Thursday. The court deferred its verdict to a later date.

“Given our enduring concerns about this case, including the lack of detail as to the charges and the investigation made available to Dr. Yang and to Australia, we consider this to be an instance of arbitrary detention of an Australian citizen,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement Friday.

Australia first warned its citizens of the risk of arbitrary detention if they visited China in a travel advisory in July last year. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advised that Chinese “authorities have detained foreigners because they’re ‘endangering national security,’ ” adding that Australians may also be at risk.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia dismissed the warning as “ridiculous” and “disinformation.”

Australian Embassy officials visited Yang in detention on Friday and gave assurances that Australia stood by him and his family “at this very difficult time,” Payne said. It was the 20th consular visit since Yang was taken into custody on arrival in China in January 2019.

Ambassador Graham Fletcher was denied entry to the court on Thursday.

Payne said Australian officials’ presence at the court entrance reinforced her government’s support for Yang and “our deep concerns with what continues to be a closed and opaque process.”

Chinese authorities have not released any details of the charges against Yang, a novelist who reportedly formerly worked for China’s Ministry of State Security as an intelligence agent.

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