Former Chinese diplomat with Australian citizenship held in Beijing
As China’s silencing of any perceived dissent increases, Australia complains of not hearing about the author’s disappearance for four days
Sydney — A former Chinese diplomat, who has Australian citizenship, is being held in residential detention in China, government ministers said, and Canberra is disappointed in how long it took Beijing to notify them after the man went missing. Australia said on Thursday that author Yang Hengjun was detained shortly after he flew in to the southern city of Guangzhou from New York last week, but it did not believe his detention was the result of rising tensions between China and the West. Defence minister Christopher Pyne said Australia, under existing diplomatic conventions, would normally expect to be told of such a case within three days. Yang went missing on Friday and Canberra was not told until four days later, he said. “Obviously, that is disappointing and we’ll be raising it ... with Chinese government officials,” Pyne told reporters in Beijing, where he arrived on Thursday for previously scheduled talks. “He’s being held in residential surveillance, which we would normally de...
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