Detained Australian Yang Hengjun to face trial in China
10 October, 2020
The Australian government said on Saturday (Oct 10) it's been informed that Chinese authorities are determined to prosecute Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun on "charges yet to be announced".
"We will continue steadily to provide consular support to him and his family, also to advocate for his interests," a spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in emailed comments.
Detained writer Dr Yang will face trial in Beijing on an espionage charge with a judge likely to be appointed in the next fortnight, friends added on Saturday.
The 55-year-old blogger was detained by Chinese authorities in January 2019 at Guangzhou Airport after arriving from NY. He has been held in a Beijing detention facility with no usage of his family, while his wife remains in China.
His Beijing legal representatives were notified on Wednesday that Dr Yang's case has been transferred to the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court, a friend told Reuters.
A judge is expected to be appointed within the next two weeks to listen to the case, said Feng Chongyi, a pal of Dr Yang's and a professor at the University of Technology Sydney.
Beneath the Chinese legal system, the charge, evidence to aid the charge and a proposed sentence will get to the court in the beginning of a trial, Feng said.
Dr Yang's legal representatives have met with him twice, for one hour each time, previously month, his first legal access after 21 months of detention and interrogation by Chinese security authorities.
Consular access via videolink to Australian embassy officials was restored in September after being suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Yang told his family in a note last month that he was innocent and would "never confess to something I haven't done".
Australia has strongly objected to the indictment.
Diplomatic relations between China and Australia have deteriorated this season, after Beijing imposed trade reprisals in response to Canberra leading demands an international inquiry in to the way to obtain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month China's foreign ministry confirmed another Australian, Chinese state television set host Cheng Lei, have been detained in Beijing and had been investigated on suspicion of endangering national security.
The Chinese foreign ministry didn't immediately react to a Reuters obtain comment on Saturday.
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