An Australian academic jailed in China on espionage charges fears he will die in prison if he does not receive medical treatment, his friends said yesterday.
Chinese-born Australian Yang Jun (楊軍) has been jailed in China since 2019, accused of spying in a closed trial that was heavily criticized by human rights groups.
Yang’s ailing health has been caused by a large cyst growing on his kidney, which has come to the attention of Australian diplomats who have visited him in detention.
Photo: REUTERS
“If something happens with my health and I die in here, people outside won’t know the truth,” he said in a note shared with friends and supporters. “If something happens to me, who can speak for me?”
Political scientist Feng Chongyi (馮崇義), who was detained and questioned by Chinese authorities in 2017, said he had grown increasingly concerned about his friend’s health.
“These prisons, or detention centers, are unable to provide decent medical treatment,” Feng said. “It deeply worries me. When they talk about having a major operation to remove the cyst, that may endanger his life.”
Yang, who denies the spying claims, was arrested on a rare trip back to China in January 2019. The writer and academic — who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun (楊恒均) — has previously told supporters he was tortured at a secret detention site and fears forced confessions could be used against him.
His closed-door trial was heard in Beijing in mid-2021, with Yang still awaiting the verdict.
A spokesperson for Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) yesterday said that the government in Canberra had “deep concerns” about the “ongoing delays in his case.”
“Chinese judicial authorities are handling the case in strict accordance with the law ... and are fully respecting and protecting the consular rights of the Australian side, including visits,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said.
Canberra’s improved relationship with Beijing has ignited a renewed push to free Yang as well as jailed Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾), who also faces vague espionage charges.
Cheng described her bleak prison conditions in a note dictated to Australian officials from her cell.
“I miss the sun,” read the message, described as a “love letter” to Australia.
“In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year,” she wrote.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS