Australian author is detained by Chinese security agents and 'accused of being a spy' minutes after stepping off a plane with his wife and stepdaughter
- Ministry of State Security agents swooped on Yang Hengjun, witnesses said
- He and wife Yuan Rui Juan were interrogated for 12 hours at Guangzhou Airport
- Mr Yuan allowed to drop stepdaughter in Shanghai, then followed him to Beijing
- He has been missing since arriving on January 19 and China gave no information
- Mr Yang is a democracy advocate but not high on Beijing's concerns list
- Friends fear he is a pawn in diplomatic fight between China, Canada, and U.S.
An Australian author has been detained by China's secret police minutes after stepping off a plane with his wife and stepdaughter.
Ten security agents pounced on Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat, after he cleared customs at Guangzhou Airport on January 19, witnesses claimed.
Mr Yang, an Australian citizen, had been living in the U.S. but flew back to China from New York, despite friends telling him it was not safe.
Australian author Yang Hengjun (pictured) has been detained by China's secret police minutes after stepping off a plane with his wife and stepdaughter
He and his wife Yuan Rui Juan were stopped from boarding their connecting flight to Shanghai and interrogated at the airport for 12 hours, friends said.
The novelist and commentator was then taken to Beijing, and nothing has been heard from him since as friends fear the worst.
Mr Yang's friend, University of Technology Sydney associate professor Feng Chongyi, said his wife was allowed to drop off their daughter with family in Shanghai before following him to Beijing.
Ms Yuan has since been released and returned to Shaghai, but has not been allowed to speak with her husband.
Professor Feng said he believed Mr Yang was being held by the Ministry of State Security on espionage charges.
Mr Yang (pictured), an Australian citizen, had been living in the U.S. but flew back to China from New York despite friends telling him it was not safe
He and his wife Yuan Rui Juan were stopped from boarding their connecting flight to Shanghai and interrogated at the airport for 12 hours, friends said
However, China has not confirmed this and foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she had no information on his whereabouts.
'I am not aware of the situation about this Mr Yang and I can't tell you whether it will be a topic of discussion between the two sides,' she said in reference to talks involving Defence Minister Christopher Pyne in Beijing on Thursday.
China and Australia are obligated to notify each other within three days if one has detained the others citizens, under a consular agreement.
Share this article
That deadline has long since passed, but it was not uncommon for the MSS to delay informing the foreign ministry it had detained a foreign national.
Mr Yang was reported missing and DFAT was seeking information on his whereabouts from Chinese authorities.
'Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment,' it said.
Along with writing spy novels, Mr Yang (pictured) has been a vocal critic of Chinese policy and proponent of democracy, and gained Australian citizenship in 2002
Along with writing spy novels, Mr Yang has been a vocal critic of Chinese policy and proponent of democracy, and gained Australian citizenship in 2002.
However, he was not considered to feature much on China's radar and had not said anything to raise the ruling party's ire in a few years.
Qiao Mu, a Chinese academic who now lives in the U.S., said Mr Yang likely would not be held prisoner for very long.
'Yang is a soft critic accepted by both Chinese authorities and netizens. The detention may be a short period like Feng Chongyi encountered,' he told The Australian.
Professor Feng was detained in China in 2017 near the end of a three-week trip during which he was researching human rights lawyers.
He was questioned by security services for several days before he was allowed to return to Australia, where he said he couldn't talk about what happened.
Professor Feng was concerned Mr Yang may be caught up in a diplomatic stoush after Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou (pictured) at the request of the U.S
China a month ago detained two Canadians, entrepreneur Michael Spavor (left) and former diplomat Michael Kovrig (right), in what was widely seen as retaliation
Professor Feng was concerned Mr Yang may be caught up in a diplomatic stoush between China and Canada.
China a month ago detained two Canadians, entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, in what was widely seen as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the U.S.
Australian has been supportive of Canada's arrest, which Professor Feng worried was being taken out on his friend.
'I see his arrest as the extension of Chinese hostage diplomacy to take him as a hostage to press the Australian government and the Canadian government, American government,' he told the ABC.
Mr Pyne said the Australia-China defense relationship was a key component of the broader bilateral relationship.
'The government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respect — China and Australia's success will go hand-in-hand,' he said.
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
