Australia ‘deeply troubled’ by Chinese espionage case

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong says her government is “deeply troubled” by the delays in China resolving espionage allegations against Chinese-Australian writer and blogger Yang Hengjun. Wong raised the issue Thursday on the anniversary of Yang’s detention in 2019 when he arrived in southern China’s Guangzhou from New York. Yang faced a closed trial on an espionage charge in Beijing in May 2021 and is still waiting for a verdict. Wong said in a statement: “The Australian government is deeply troubled by the ongoing delays in his case.” Yang’s Sydney-based supporter, Feng Chongyi, said the case will not be resolved before April because the court was recently granted a seventh three-month extension. China’s Foreign Ministry offered no new information on Yang.