Yang Hengjun was stopped from traveling from Beijing to Shanghai with his family on January 19 this year. Yang has been an Australian citizen since the turn of the millennium, but was resident in the United States at the time of his detention and worked there as a visiting teacher at Columbia University.
At first, it was unclear why the author was deprived of liberty and what he was accused of. However, on January 29, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that Yang Hengjun was accused of participating in "criminal activities that threaten China's national security". Now, over 7 months later, China has formally issued a lawsuit against Yang Hengjun for espionage.
"If Dr. Yang is deprived of liberty because of his political convictions, he should be released," Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Seriously worried"In an interview with The Guardian, Marise Payne made it clear that there should be no basis for the allegations that Yang Hengjun should have spied on the Australian government. During the time that Yang Hengjun has been detained, China has been allowed half-hour long consular meetings once a month. But he has not been given the opportunity to meet his family or lawyers, according to the BBC.
"We are seriously concerned about Dr. Yang's well-being and the conditions under which he is being held," Marise Payne said in the statement.