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Jailed Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun has written to Anthony Albanese from his prison cell in Beijing, thanking him for repeatedly expressing Australia’s “grave concerns” about his deteriorating health to Chinese officials.
Yang, who was given a suspended death sentence by a Chinese court in February 2024 after already serving five years in detention on espionage charges that he denies, told the prime minister “words are now failing me”.
“Tears blur my vision,” Yang wrote on what he described as the sixth anniversary of his imprisonment. “I can only use a silent voice to thank you and all the people who care for and love me. I know you and the Australian government endeavour to do your utmost to bring me home for medical care and reunification with my family.”
Yang, who has stated he is “100% innocent”, has previously told supporters he feared he could die in a prison cell from a worsening medical condition he says has not been treated properly. His friends fear he may not survive his incarceration.
Yang’s letter thanked Australia’s ambassador to China, Scott Dewar, and diplomatic staff who have continued to visit him in prison, called for his release and passed messages from his family in Australia.
“All of this solicitude and solace has helped me to bear what has been untold and unbearable suffering,” Yang said. “They are not family, and yet they are more than family. How could words articulate my emotions?
“I feel all of your support beside me as I stagger through the hardest and darkest chapter of my life, allowing me to immerse in the warmth of humanity.
“It has helped me to understand the value of words and deeds of a government of the people, by the people, for the people – to enable me to fully understand the true meaning of being an Australian citizen.”
Yang was arrested in 2019 at Guangzhou airport, accused of spying for an undisclosed foreign country. The 57-year-old pro-democracy blogger is an Australian citizen who was born in China. He was tried in a one-day, closed-door hearing in Beijing in May 2021, with a verdict not publicly disclosed.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said she and the prime minister were deeply moved by the letter, describing it as “a message of profound courage, resilience and hope despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances”.
“Dr Yang writes of his great love for his country – and we want to see him home in Australia, reunited with his family,” Wong said in a statement.
“We continue to advocate for Dr Yang’s interests and wellbeing at every opportunity and at the highest levels, including access to appropriate medical care. Our thoughts remain with Dr Yang and his loved ones.”
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Yang’s letter to the prime minister said he was proud to be Australian and that our national values, such as the protection of individual freedoms of thought and speech, liberty and equality were “a beacon attracting and inspiring many Asian people and people around the world”.
“I deeply love Australia,” Yang said. “It is my beloved children’s motherland; its nature and lifestyle live up to its principles and expectations. I cherish and defend its core values. This is something I’ve sought for in my life, it is bigger than my own life.”
In March last year, Wong told her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during his visit to Canberra, that Australians were “shocked” at Yang’s suspended death sentence.
“I made clear to him the Australian government will continue to advocate on Dr Yang’s behalf,” Wong said at a media conference after the 2024 meeting.
The sentence is formally described as a death sentence with a two-year reprieve. It is a relatively common ruling that allows death sentences to be commuted to 25 years, or life in prison after two years of good behaviour. China is believed to be the world’s biggest user of the death penalty, but there is no publicly available data. China’s court system is notoriously opaque, with conviction rates above 99.9% and very few cases overturned for wrongful convictions.
China has maintained the case was held in accordance with its legal system.
