Two Australians that have been stuck behind bars for years in China have had their sentencing dates extended, dealing a fresh blow to hopes of their release as relations between China and Australia improve.
Australian writer Yang Hengjun and journalist Cheng Lei have had their sentencing dates extended by another three months after several delays following their closed-door hearings on national security charges. Yang’s sentencing has now been delayed seven times since he was arrested in January 2019. Cheng has also been faced with multiple extensions since she was detained in August 2020 at the height of diplomatic disputes between Canberra and Beijing.
. The details of the charges against Yang and Cheng have never been publicly revealed. Both have been critical of the Chinese government, but the Australian government has repeatedly denied all claims of espionage and labelled the cases as arbitrary detention. Despite the high-profile lobbying, negotiators have yet to strike a deal with their Chinese counterparts. Other disputes over trade that have dominated three years of acrimony between Beijing and Canberra appear to be slowly easing after some Chinese importers were given the all-clear to begin purchasing Australian coal again last week.
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