By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Wednesday it was deeply concerned that Australian writer Yang Hengjun was on trial in China charged with espionage, adding his treatment fell short of “basic standards of justice”.
Lawyers for the 55-year-old blogger will visit him in detention on Thursday in Beijing to describe the charge and the sentence that he might face, friends said.
Australia’s foreign minister Marise Payne said: “We regret that after a lengthy investigation period Chinese authorities have stated that he has been charged with espionage.”
“We have seen no evidence to support this charge,” she said in a statement, adding Australia “is disappointed and deeply concerned” that China had decided to prosecute him.
China’s foreign ministry was approached for comment.
On Monday the ministry said the case was being heard in the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court.
Yang was detained in January 2019 after arriving at Guangzhou Airport and had received no family visits and only limited access to legal representation, Payne said.
“This falls short of basic standards of justice and procedural fairness, and is not compatible with international norms.”
Australian government officials had made repeated requests for an explanation of the charges against him, she said.
Yang told his family in a message last month that he was innocent and would “never confess to something I haven’t done”.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham, Editing by William Maclean)
