Chinese-origin China sentenced Australian writer Yang Hengjun to death with a suspended sentence for alleged spying. On Monday (Feb 5), Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters that Canberra was outraged by the ruling of a Beijing court.
According to reports, the death sentence could be reduced to life in jail after two years.
“We will be communicating our response in the strongest terms,” Foreign Minister Wong said. “I want to acknowledge the acute distress that Dr Yang and his family will be feeling today, coming after years of uncertainty,” she added.
The foreign minister also stated that China’s ambassador to Australia would be summoned to discuss Australia’s opposition.
Who is Yang Hengjun?
Yang, 58, a pro-democracy blogger, was born in China and is now an Australian citizen. Yang was working in New York before being arrested at China’s Guangzhou airport in 2019.
He was suspected of spying for a country China had not publicly recognized, and the specifics of the case against him remained undisclosed. A family representative in Sydney told Reuters that Yang’s family was “shocked and devastated by this news, which comes at the end of the worst expectations.”
Beijing has yet to react to the development
Yang was a well-known blogger who wrote about Chinese and American politics, as well as a series of spy novels, before his detention.
In May 2021, a Beijing court heard his trial in secret, and the charges against him have never been publicly released.
The author denies serving as a spy for Australia or the United States.
Yang suffers from health difficulties
Yang’s postponed execution sentence has further strained relations between Australia and China.
In October of last year, his two Australian sons wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his visit to China, urging Beijing to seek their father’s release on medical grounds.
Yang was notified in 2023 that he had a four-inch cyst on his kidney that would require surgery.
The writer’s supporters argue that he should be released on medical parole.