Detained Australian writer to face spy trial in China
Al JazeeraYang Hengjun disappeared after arriving in Guangzhou in January 2019 and has not been allowed to see his family. Australian writer Yang Hengjun is to face trial in Beijing on an espionage charge, having been detained in China with no access to his family since January 2019, friends said on Saturday. Yang’s Beijing lawyers were notified on Wednesday that his case has been transferred to the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court, a friend told the Reuters news agency. The Australian government said on Saturday it has been informed that Chinese authorities had “decided to prosecute Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun on charges yet to be announced”. Last month China’s foreign ministry confirmed another Australian, Chinese state television presenter Cheng Lei, had been detained in Beijing and was being investigated on suspicion of endangering national security.