Six days ago, the last sign of life had come from him: on that day, the Chinese-Australian author Yang Hengjun traveled with his wife and child from New York to Guangzhou in southern China. There he was arrested by the authorities. That was confirmed by the State Department in Canberra on Thursday. The ministry is now seeking consular access to the 53-year-old, it said.
Yang is known in China as a democracy activist, novelist and blogger. He regularly comments on Chinese politics, sometimes criticizing the Communist Party. Before accepting Australian citizenship, Yang worked in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. In between, he lived in Hong Kong and worked for the Atlantic Council in the US. China does not recognize its dual nationality.
The author had already disappeared in China in 2011 for several days. Later, he stated that it was a "misunderstanding" with the Chinese authorities.
Australian Defense Minister Christopher Pyne is currently visiting Beijing. There he wants to speak with his counterpart Wei Fenghe, inter alia, on regional security issues and bilateral affairs. It was unclear at first whether Pyne would also address the arrest of Yang.
Australia had recently become concerned about the arrest of two Canadians in China, whose detentions appeared to be a retaliation by the Chinese authorities for the appointment of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada.