Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun, who has been detained on the mainland for more than 20 months, has reportedly been formally indicted by Chinese authorities on charges of espionage and will be tried in Beijing.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed to the media that the Australian side had been notified of the Chinese decision to prosecute Yang Hengjun and that the Australian side demanded a fair and impartial process.
The Guardian quoted Yang Hengjun’s mainland lawyer, Shang Baojun, as saying that Yang Hengjun had been notified on Wednesday that he had been formally charged, and that the prosecutors had informed them that the case had been transferred to the Beijing Municipal No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, where the indictment listed five charges.
Reuters, citing a friend of Yang Hengjun’s, reported that a judge for the case was expected to be named in the next two weeks.
Yang Hengjun, 55, was detained last January when he entered Guangzhou, where the foreign ministry had earlier accused him of engaging in criminal activities that endangered China’s national security, and he had said he was innocent and would not plead guilty to something he did not do.
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