The sons of an Australian writer jailed in China yesterday said they are hoping for his “miracle” release, urging Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise their father’s plight on a trip to Beijing.
Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Jun (楊俊) has been detained in China since 2019, accused of spying in a closed trial that is heavily criticized by human rights activists.
In the past few weeks Yang’s health has rapidly deteriorated as a large cyst grows on his kidney, with his family increasingly fearful he would be “left to die” in detention.
Photo: AFP
In an open letter released yesterday ahead of Albanese’s trip to China on Saturday, Yang’s sons asked the prime minister to “do all in your power to save our father’s life.”
“The risk of being left to die from medical maltreatment is especially clear to our father because he has seen it happen to his friends,” it read.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾), who was imprisoned in China on similarly opaque espionage charges, was freed last month after three years in detention. Cheng’s return followed sustained lobbying from the Australian government, raising hopes that Yang might also soon be released.
Yang’s sons said they hoped Albanese “can achieve a second miracle by saving our father.”
“Like Cheng Lei, our father cherishes the freedoms and protections that come with his Australian identity,” they said.
Albanese is to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during his visit from Saturday to Tuesday next week — the first by an Australian prime minister since 2016.
He told reporters yesterday that he would “always raise these issues and make representations on behalf of Australians.”
“We are very sympathetic and understand the concerns that they would have for their father,” he said.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) said she was “deeply concerned by the deterioration of Dr Yang’s health.”
“Since Dr Yang was detained, the Australian government has called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment ... in accordance with international norms and China’s legal obligations,” she said in a statement.
Attempts to raise Yang’s situation have irked Chinese officials in the past, who have told Australia to stop meddling in the country’s justice system.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) yesterday said that the country was “governed by the rule of law” when asked about Yang’s case.
Yang’s sons described the “particularly cruel” treatment they believed their father was facing, deprived of his beloved books in a cramped room where he is forced to “eat, drink, defecate and urinate.”
“At most, some rays of sunlight occasionally come through one or two panes of glass and flicker fitfully,” Yang told his sons, the letter said. “And my cell is also like a hole — I often call it ‘the dungeon’ because it always gives me the feeling of being in an underground cavern.”
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