Detained Chinese-Australian Writer Fears He Could Die in Prison

Chinese-Australian Writer Held in Detention Worries About Potential Fatal Consequences of Imprisonment

August 28, 2023 TruthUSA

Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun fears he could die of kidney disease in a Chinese prison if he does not receive proper medical treatment.

Mr. Yang was told by Chinese Ministry of State Security personnel last week that he had a 10-centimetre cyst on a kidney, yet no immediate options for treatment were available.

“If something happens with my health and I die in here, people outside won’t know the truth. That is frustrating. If something happens to me, who can speak for me?” he said in a statement issued via friends.

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Mr. Yang’s supporters urged the Australian authorities to intervene to secure medical parole for the writer.

Professor Feng Chongyi, Mr. Yang’s doctoral supervisor at the University of Technology Sydney, warned that if his friend’s case cannot be resolved urgently, he may face a similar fate to Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died from liver cancer in 2017 in Chinese custody.

“We all know these facilities should not be trusted,” Professor Feng told The Australian newspaper. “The Australian government should push for medical parole to give Yang access to professional doctors outside the Chinese security apparatus.”

Australian Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher (L) walks out from an entrance to the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court after being refused access to the trial of Australian academic Yang Jun, also known as Yang Hengjun, on espionage charges in Beijing on May 27, 2021. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) — Australian Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher (L) walks out from an entrance to the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court after being refused access to the trial of Australian academic Yang Jun, also known as Yang Hengjun, on espionage charges in Beijing on May 27, 2021. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

This comes weeks before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s potential meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping during the G20 Leaders’ Summit in India next month.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she shared the deep concern about the continuing delays in the case.

“The Australian government has consistently advocated for Dr. Yang’s interests and well-being, and for him to be reunited with his family,” the spokeswoman said. “His case has been raised at every opportunity with the Chinese government, including by the prime minister and foreign minister.

Australian embassy officials visited Mr. Yang last week and expressed concern for his health.

“The resumption of bilateral consular consultations with China last week provided another avenue to discuss his welfare,” a spokesperson said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets China’s President Xi Jinping in a bilateral meeting during the 2022 G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Australia, on Nov. 15, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Mr. Yang immigrated to Australia in 1999. A novelist and pro-democracy writer, he railed against the inconsistencies and corruption of Beijing’s political system in his blog.

Mr. Yang was arrested at Guangzhou Airport in China in January 2019. In August 2019, the CCP formally arrested him on suspicion of espionage. He has been detained in China for more than four years and still awaiting sentencing, which has been extended by three months to Oct. 9.

The CCP never publicly released details of the charges against Mr. Yang, and his court trial was held behind closed doors in May 2021.

Mr. Yang has always denied spying. His supporters say the

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