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.”
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS