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Australia demands China treat detained national ‘fairly’
SYDNEY, Jan 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Australia on Thursday demanded China
handle the case of detained author Yang Hengjun “transparently and fairly,”
amid a growing row about the fate of the Chinese-Australian.
Yang — a novelist, democracy advocate and former Chinese diplomat — was
detained shortly after he made a rare return to China from the United States
last week.
Friend and colleague Chongyi Feng told AFP he believes Yang is being
charged with “espionage” although Chinese authorities have not publicly said
why he was detained.
“Our embassy in Beijing will meet with Chinese authorities this morning to
seek further clarification of the nature of this detention,” Australian
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.
“We will continue to make representations to China to ensure that this
matter is dealt with transparently and fairly,” she added.
Once described as China’s “most influential political blogger”, Yang
became an Australian citizen in 2000, but is currently based at New York’s
Columbia University.
His criticism of the Chinese government and support for democracy has in
the past made him a target of Beijing’s state security apparatus.
He went missing during a 2011 trip to China, but resurfaced days later,
describing his disappearance as a “misunderstanding”.
But his current detention comes at a moment of heightened tension between
Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, prompting fears that
he may be the victim of a dragnet by Chinese security services targeting
foreigners.
The recent arrest of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at
Vancouver airport has been followed by the high profile arrests of two
Canadians.
“It only heightens the feeling that visiting China is unsafe and that the
security services may increasingly be going after people for what they say
outside of China,” said respected China watcher Bill Bishop.
Relations between China and Australia have been strained by Canberra’s
decision to ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei from participating in its 5G
wireless network over security fears and as the two countries have vied more
openly for influence in the Pacific.
This latest dispute over Yang is sure to be high on an already difficult
agenda when Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne visits Beijing later
Thursday.
Yang had worked in the ministry of foreign affairs in Hainan province, but
later left for Hong Kong in 1992, before writing a series of politically
tinged spy novels. He became Australian in 2000.
Yang’s friends first sounded concern when the 53-year-old failed to make a
connecting flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai on January 19.
Australian media reported he had been travelling with family members,
including his wife, who has since posted cryptic and emotional message on her
Weibo page from Beijing.
In Australia there is mounting anger that China failed to quickly notify
the authorities of his detention and fears that an already difficult
relationship may be further damaged.
“You can’t sugarcoat this, this is an Australian citizen, who has been
detained in China” said Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten.
“It is very concerning, I can’t pretend otherwise” he added, criticising
the slow response from the Chinese authorities.
“This is not the way relations between our two countries should be
conducted, at all.”
Former Australian prime minister and China expert Kevin Rudd turned to
Twitter to insist that Yang is an Australian citizen “just like the rest of
us with equal rights and protections”.
Under a 2000 consular agreement between the two countries, China had to
notify Australia of Yang’s detention within three calendar days and allow
consular visits, unless the detainee waives that right.
The issue may be further complicated by China’s refusal to recognise dual
nationality and allegations of Chinese “hostage diplomacy”.
Writers’ advocacy group PEN accused China of overt repression: “it’s
obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it weren’t for his previous
critical writings.”
BSS/AFP/RY/10:04 hrs