SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared on Tuesday ( Feb 6 ) that it was “outrage” that a Beijing court had suspended Yang Hengjun’s death sentence for espionage charges and vowed to keep working to secure his release.
The verdict, which was delivered three years after a secret trial, shocked his home and followers. Researchers claim that while this was doubtful to sever ties between Australia and China, it will test the limits of Canberra’s efforts to restore peace after years of hostilities.
Albanese told investigators in Canberra,” We have first conveyed to China our shock, despair, and disappointment, but to put it simply, our indignation at this verdict.”
” We’ll keep producing the best images. Of course, we called the ( Chinese ) ambassador yesterday, but we will continue to make representations at all levels.
Albanese declared that his administration would “respond immediately, plainly, and unambiguously… on this severe action by China.”
Yang, an American citizen who was born in China, wrote about Chinese and US politicians as a well-known politics blogger. As a visiting professor at Columbia University, he was residing in New York. He supplemented his income by working as an “daigou,” or online shopping representative, for Chinese customers looking for British goods.
In January 2019, he was detained while traveling to China with his family.
He worked for China’s Ministry of State Security from 1989 to 1999 and was charged with spying for a nation that China has never made public.
In China, a suspended death sentence gives the defendant remission from execution for two years before it is quickly changed to life in prison or, less frequently, fixed-term incarceration. The person spends the entire time behind bars.