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Key Points
- Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-Australian pro-democracy blogger, remains imprisoned in China.
- He was sentenced in February 2024 to a two-year suspended death sentence on espionage charges, which he denies.
- In a letter from prison, Yang expresses his gratitude for efforts from Australia to bring him home.
Jailed pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun has made a fresh plea to Australian leaders to bring him home from his Chinese prison cell.
Yang remains imprisoned in China after he was .
The Australian writer was found guilty of espionage charges, which he has always denied, and has been detained since 2019.
In a handwritten letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese from prison, Yang thanked him for his support.
In March, protestors gathered outside Canberra’s Parliament House, coinciding with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Australia. Credit: Sipa USA
“Dear Prime Minister Albanese, words are now failing me. Tears blur my vision. I can only use a silent voice to thank you and all the people who care for and love me,” the letter written in January reads.
“I know you and the Australian government endeavour to do your utmost to bring me home for medical care and reunification with my family.”
“I have a dream,” Yang continues. “Let peace win, let humanity gain, let love prevail, let freedom ring.”
Yang said he has felt the support from home as he staggers through the “hardest and darkest chapter of my life”.
“It has helped me to understand the value of words and deeds of a government of the people, by the people, for the people — to enable me to fully understand the true meaning of being an Australian citizen,” the letter reads.
The jailed Australian said a letter sent to him by Foreign Minister Penny Wong had helped him maintain strength and courage.
He also thanked Australian diplomats and embassy staff in China for their persistent support of him.
“All of this solicitude and solace has helped me to bear what has been untold and unbearable suffering,” Yang wrote.
“I deeply love Australia. It is my beloved children’s motherland,” Yang wrote.
“I cherish and defend its core values. This is something I’ve sought for in my life, it is bigger than my own life.”
Yang still faces the prospect of life behind bars at the end of his sentence.
His family claims he has been subjected to hundreds of instances of torture.
“I have a dream,” Yang writes in the letter.
“That there is no war, no bullying, no incivility. People of different colours, cultures, and nationalities love each other like sisters and brothers.
“I faithfully hope the world’s longest civilisations and youngest civilisations will one day sit together, to learn from each other’s good points — develop and progress together, setting an example of peaceful coexistence by seeking common ground and reserving differences. And that I should give something useful to that project.”
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