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A friend of detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun has called on Anthony Albanese to move past “weak” efforts in advocating for the release of his friend, as the prime minister meets with the Chinese president in Beijing.
Ahead of his fourth meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing, Albanese is facing pressure to advocate for Yang’s release.
Yang, who has been detained since 2019, was handed a two-year suspended death sentence in February 2024 over charges of espionage. He maintains his innocence.
Yang’s friend and his PhD supervisor in Australia, associate professor Feng Chongyi, said Albanese was focusing entirely on trade during the six-day trip, which he said came at the expense of Australian values around human rights.
Feng expressed to SBS News that he believes the attempts by Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong to negotiate his friend’s release have been inadequate, describing them as “too weak, too soft”.
Yang Hengjun wrote about Chinese democracy and US politics online as a high-profile blogger and also penned a series of spy novels. Credit: AP
Feng said the approach “actually invites bullying from the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] regime”.
“It is only lip service, rather than put a very harsh demand that you have to release Dr Yang,” he said on Tuesday.
“Otherwise, we will not normalise trade. Australia will not normalise relations with China unless you stop bullying Australian citizens like that.”
Feng suggested Australia leverage mineral resources — iron ore, natural gas and lithium — to broker a deal with Xi.
He said Yang’s life was in “danger” as his health continued to deteriorate.
Feng said Yang has been “habitually tortured” and suffers from constant pain, is malnourished and unable to get treatment for a 10cm cyst on his kidney.
“Sometimes Chinese authorities even deny his right to accept the extra money sent by his relatives to buy additional food, including dried beef or milk powder,” he said.
“So he’s catching a cold all the time and he has fainted many times in prison. It’s quite a serious concern for me and his family members.
“What I expect from Prime Minister Albanese is that he insist on the immediate release of Hengjun back to Australia, because this is unacceptable.”
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Xi, Albanese said he had raised the case.
“You wouldn’t expect there to be an immediate outcome, and that is not the way things work,” he said.
“The effective approach involves patient, measured advocacy — it’s the Australian way, it’s what my government practices — and I refer to my government’s history in handling such matters.”
When asked directly about Feng’s comments to SBS News, Albanese said it would be “inappropriate and insensitive” to respond.
“I understand the pressures on people when a loved one has been incarcerated,” he said.
“What we will do, though, is put forward our views in a diplomatic way in order to try to maximise an outcome, and I point towards the outcomes where Australians here in China, in Myanmar, in Vietnam, in Indonesia, the US and the UK have all received outcomes that, at the least, could be called satisfactory.
“And we will continue to do that to achieve outcomes and that is what our objective is.”
Yang’s letter to Albanese from prison
In a handwritten letter sent to Albanese earlier this year from prison, Yang thanked him for his support.
“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.
“Let peace win, let humanity gain, let love prevail, let freedom ring.”
Both Albanese and Wong have repeatedly said they continue to advocate for Yang’s “interests and well-being at every opportunity”.
— With additional reporting from AAP
