China yesterday said that Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate Yang Hengjun (楊恆鈞) was detained on national security grounds.
Yang was detained last week shortly after he made a rare return to China from the US.
“Beijing state security took compulsory measures against” Yang and are “investigating because he is suspected of engaging in criminal activities that endanger China’s national security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said.
Such accusations in China often imply espionage allegations. Similar allegations were made against two Canadians who were detained last month.
Australian Minister for Defense Christopher Pyne, on an official visit to Beijing, told reporters he was to raise the issue with his Chinese counterpart later yesterday.
“As Mr Yang doesn’t have a residence in Beijing, I believe he would be held in a ... situation which we would describe as home detention,” he said.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne earlier said that diplomats met with Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the matter and were seeking “further clarification.”
“We will continue to make representations to China to make sure this is dealt with transparently and fairly,” she said.
“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,” China watcher Bill Bishop said.
Yang had worked in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hainan Province, but left for Hong Kong in 1992 before writing a series of politically tinged spy novels.
In Australia there is mounting anger that China failed to quickly notify the authorities of his detention and fears that an already difficult relationship might be further damaged.
“You can’t sugar-coat this, this is an Australian citizen who has been detained in China,” Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten said. “It is very concerning, I can’t pretend otherwise.”
Hua countered that Chinese authorities “officially notified the Australian side after taking mandatory measures” against Yang.
She identified him as Yang Jun (楊軍), his official name.
Yang’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping (莫少平), confirmed that his client is under residential surveillance, adding that Yang Hengjun is his pen name.
Under a 2000 agreement between the two countries, China was obliged to notify Australia of Yang’s detention within three days and allow consular visits, unless the detainee waives that right.
Beijing took four days to notify Canberra, Pyne said.
The issue might be further complicated by China’s refusal to recognize dual nationality and allegations of Chinese “hostage diplomacy.”
Writers’ advocacy group PEN accused China of overt repression, saying: “It’s obvious that Yang would not have been seized if it weren’t for his previous critical writings.”
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