The detention of Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Hengjun over suspected espionage has sparked division within the overseas Chinese community, with critics questioning his professional history as well as his ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Key points:
- Dr Yang was at a Chinese state banquet in 2014 which was also attended by Xi Jinping
- He is also a personal shopper selling products including Australian baby formula
- The arrest made some Chinese diaspora more cautious about speaking out against Beijing
Dr Yang, whose legal name is Yang Jun, was a former employee at China's ministries of foreign affairs and state security before migrating to Australia where he reportedly obtained his citizenship in 2002.
The 53-year-old had been living with his family in New York, where he has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University since 2017, before his arrest at Guangzhou airport in southern China earlier this month.
In addition to Dr Yang's recent academic role, he has worn many hats over the years: an author of spy novels, a prominent blogger, an outspoken political commentator as well as a democracy advocate.
He also is also personal shopper — known as daigou — selling a range of products including Australian baby formula, popular supplements, luxury bags and other fashion products.
Dr Yang himself models for some of the products he sells in his WeChat e-commerce shop.
He has also built a significant online presence with more than 310,000 followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo and 131,000 followers on Twitter.
While Dr Yang describes himself as a Chinese "nationalist supporting democracy" in his book titled Family, Country and the World published in 2011, his detractors say he has been flaunting his connections with high-level political leaders on his blog for years.
Lebao Wu, a pro-democracy activist based in Australia, recently shared a photo of Dr Yang attending a Chinese state banquet in 2014 on Twitter, which was initially posted by Dr Yang on his personal blog.
The banquet was held to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and was also attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and former leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.
"[The organisers] of that banquet would never invite an ordinary scholar from overseas, and his attendance indicates his extremely close ties with the Chinese Government," Mr Wu told the ABC.
Mr Wu also questioned Dr Yang's reputation as a democracy activist because it "conflicted" with his previous role with state security police.
"He can't be a victim of pro-democratic activities and a perpetrator with the state security police at the same time," he added.
Mr Wu is not alone in his thoughts — many of his other critics on social media have also raised "his links to the Communist Party" and say "he could be an agent for Beijing".
Strategy to 'scare away cyber police'
Mr Yang's close friend and former PhD supervisor, Sydney academic Feng Chongyi, explained that the photo was "a very old tactic" his friend used to protect himself and his work from China's army of cyber police.
The photos made it appear as if Dr Yang was "very well connected", he explained.
"China has millions of cyber police to delete articles, to block the websites — that's their job," Dr Feng told the ABC.
"Yang Hengjun put those pictures with the leaders and attending high-profile meetings [on his blog] — that is the best protection you can get to scare away those cyber police.
"That's why he can still publish and circulate those articles promoting democracy … while those articles written by the democracy leaders outside were completely blocked from [China's censored internet]."
Dr Feng said he believed Dr Yang's advocacy for moderate reform — which is "fundamentally different" to the approach of many in the overseas pro-democratic movement who call for a bottom-up revolution — was another reason why he has been labelled a Chinese Government spy.
Dr Yang's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, also defended accusations of Dr Yang being an agent for Beijing, adding that the investigation of his activities must have occurred over a long time.
He also confirmed to the ABC that Dr Yang has been charged over suspected espionage.
"If the security agency arrested him, it means they have been monitoring his activities for a long time, or at least have solid evidence that they believe are related to this case," he said.
"I personally think the possibility of releasing Dr Yang in a short period of time is very tiny."
Mr Yang's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is further complicated by his appointment in December 2014 as the president of the International New Media Cooperation Organisation which includes some state-funded media outlets such as China Daily.
In an interview with the World Chinese Weekly, executive president of the organisation Hui Zhang said one of the main purposes of the organisation was to promote the projects and policies of every level of government.
Is Yang Hengjun a dual citizen?
There are also other aspects of Dr Yang's identity that are unclear such as his nationality.
While Dr Yang received his first visit from Australian consular officials last week, it is unclear whether he still has Chinese citizenship.
According to China's Nationality Law, the country doesn't recognise dual citizenship. This means any Chinese national who receives foreign citizenship has to relinquish their Chinese citizenship.
Adding to the confusion are mixed reports of when Dr Yang received his Australian citizenship — the Sydney Morning Herald claims 2002, while the BBC says 2000. Dr Yang himself said he was still a Chinese citizen in his book published in January 2011.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was also unable to clarify whether or not Dr Yang is a dual national.
This is not the first time Mr Yang has been missing after travelling to Guangzhou.
He briefly "disappeared" in 2011 and emerged a few days later claiming there was a misunderstanding, after Australian consular officials stepped in to advocate on his behalf.
Dr Feng said Dr Yang had decided to return to China with his family because his wife and stepdaughters' visas in the United States had expired earlier this month and they needed to return to China while they waited for their visas to Australia to be approved.
The ABC understands that Mr Mo is still waiting for approval from the Chinese authorities to visit Dr Yang and that his wife has also been banned from leaving China even though she still has her passport and can freely communicate.
The law firm owned by Mr Mo, one of China's most high-profile defence lawyers, is also representing Robert Schellenberg, the Canadian facing execution in China over drug smuggling.
'Killing the chicken to scare monkey'
Loading...As prominent Liberal MP Andrew Hastie warned earlier this week, the arrest of Mr Yang is already making some Chinese diaspora think twice about criticising the CCP.
Dr Feng said some of his close friends and colleagues have become more cautious about voicing their opinions about the Chinese Government after Mr Yang's arrest.
He said it was "serving the purpose" of the Chinese Communist Government by "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" — a popular Chinese idiom meaning to punish an individual as an example to others.
Jieh-Yung Lo, an Australian-Chinese writer and commentator on Australia-China relations, told the ABC that his family had immense concerns about his personal security after Dr Yang's arrest.
"Both my mother and my wife were concerned that I was being too outspoken on Australia-China relations and China's approach to foreign policy and international relations," Mr Lo said.
However, he said Dr Yang's arrest would not stop him from commenting on China — rather it was a reminder that views and opinions from Chinese-Australians do matter to China, especially since Mr Xi started his presidential term.
"The Chinese Government is showing a deep interest in what we have to say," he said.
Mr Lo said the general Chinese-Australian community was not very adept at articulating their views on political issues, but he believed the community's voice was now needed more than ever before.
"For many decades our community has been very absent in the public sphere, not just in the media but also in politics," he said.
"Our engagement with China is becoming more and more important, and [we need more than] high-level dialogue.
"We need to have links between individuals, we need to be connecting in a variety of different ways."