Australia-China relations continue to sour over the detention and trial of writer Dr Yang Hengjun | ErykBagshaw
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has labelled jailed Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun’s trial a case of arbitrary detention, escalating Australia’s response to Beijing as he awaits a verdict on charges of espionage.to the Beijing courthouse where Yang was being held in a closed-door trial, a move Australia claimed was a breach of China’s treaty obligations.
Yang’s treatment has been linked to deepening diplomatic animosity between China and Australia after two years of public hostility over national security, human rights and trade. The one-day trial ended on Thursday with the court deferring its verdict and sentence. The 56-year-old now faces months waiting for either outcome, more than two years after he was forced from a plane into detention by Chinese authorities.The Chinese criminal justice system has a 99 per cent conviction rate. Yang faces a sentence ranging from 3 years in jail to death under the national security charges.