SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia strongly objects to the formal indictment of Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengju, who continues to be held in “unacceptable” conditions, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Wednesday.
Yang, a former Chinese diplomat turned online journalist and blogger, was formally arrested in August 2019 on suspicion of espionage, seven months after he was originally detained in the southern city of Guangzhou.
Payne said Australian consular officials have been denied access to Yang since the end of 2019.
“In the absence of consular visits as a result of COVID-19, we have requested contact by telephone or correspondence. Both requests have been rejected This is unacceptable treatment of an Australian citizen,” Payne said in an emailed statement
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Rju Gopalakrishnan)
