Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Yang was convicted of espionage by Beijing’s Second Intermediate Court in a trial that “strictly followed the law.” The sentence came after a closed-door trial in May 2021, during which details of Yang’s charges were not disclosed. He denies all charges.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Australian government was “appalled” by the verdict.
“This is devastating news for Dr. Yang, his family, and everyone who supported him,” Wong wrote. statement. “All Australians want to see Dr Yang reunited with his family and we will not slow down in our advocacy.”
Yang became a naturalized Australian in 2002, but was detained at Guangzhou Airport in January 2019 while visiting China with her family. He was formally charged with spying for another government in China, although authorities did not say which country.
Chong-Yi Feng, associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, former doctoral supervisor and friend of Mr Yang, said Monday’s hearing was attended by Mr Yang’s wife and staff from the Australian embassy, and the hearing lasted for 30 minutes. Lasted for minutes.
Feng spoke with Yang’s wife, Yuan Ruijian, who said she was able to make eye contact with Yang briefly before being taken away. “He looked very thin and weak,” Fenn said.
Mr Feng condemned his friend’s sentence and called on the international community, particularly the Australian government, to maintain pressure on the Chinese government.
“he [being] Punished for publications advocating universal values such as democracy, rule of law, and human rights and criticized the government for human rights violations in China.”
Yang’s lawyer Mo Xiaoping said his client had 10 days to appeal the verdict. But such appeals are unlikely to go anywhere in China’s court system, where the conviction rate is as high as 99 percent.
Feng said that while in custody, Yang was denied access to a lawyer or contact with his family for several months. Australian authorities said they were concerned by reports that Mr Yang had been subjected to solitary confinement and torture.
His health deteriorated. In a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before a visit to China in November, Ms Yang’s children said their father had collapsed in prison and begged Albanese to secure his release. They were told that a 10-centimeter cyst was growing on Mr. Yang’s kidney.
The verdict “sheds light on Beijing’s opaque criminal justice system, which is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Daniela Gavuchon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Australian Government condemns this outcome, but stronger action is needed.”
Yang’s sentence came less than four months after the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who had been detained in China for three years. The contrast between the two incidents highlights the limits of renewed efforts to repair strained relations between Canberra and China.
Like Yang, Chen, who was an anchor on an English-language state broadcaster, was found guilty of espionage in a closed-door trial.
And while her release after long negotiations between the two countries appears to reflect the recent stabilization of relations between the two countries after years of discord, Yang’s heavy sentence marks a new wave in the relationship. Experts said it would lead to severe tensions.
“This just shows the limits of stabilization,” said James Curran, a history professor at the University of Sydney who recently wrote a book on Beijing-Canberra relations. He said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had worked to improve relations without making concessions to China, culminating in a visit to Beijing in November. But Yang’s ruling will be a setback.
“We’re dealing with an Australian citizen who has a suspended death sentence and a potential life sentence,” Mr Curran said. “This will definitely cast a dark shadow, a pale shadow, on the management of the relationship going forward. It won’t derail the relationship, but it will cast a real cloud over the Australia-China relationship over the next six to 12 months. There is no doubt about it.”
The ruling was the extreme of expectations and showed that at least some parts of the Chinese government were “indifferent to the implications for the bilateral relationship with Australia”, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute. he said. Australian think tank.
“Recently we’ve seen Australia and China put a brake on their relationship,” Mr McGregor said. “This is a reminder that there is a ceiling, and sometimes it is very low.”
More than anything, he added, the ruling appeared to be aimed at democratic activists like Yang.
“The inevitable conclusion is that he will die in prison,” McGregor said. “So someone somewhere is trying to send a message to people like Dr. Yang.”
Both experts said Australia had few options in how to respond.
Wong told reporters that he had summoned the Chinese ambassador to express Beijing’s “objection” to the news, but stopped short of expelling him. Asked if Australia would backtrack on its plans to host China’s president or prime minister later this year, Mr Wong appeared to indicate he intended to proceed with the visit.
“Stabilization means cooperating where we can, opposing where we have to agree, and working on our national interests,” he said, adding: “Obviously this is where we disagree. It’s an opportunity,” he added.