Anthony Albanese to call for Yang Henjun’s release when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during Beijing visit
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed during a three-day official visit that he will pressure the Chinese government to resolve the case of detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun.
Mr Albanese, who will leave Darwin for Shanghai on Saturday afternoon before traveling to Beijing on Sunday, is the first Australian leader to visit China in seven years.
The trip also comes on the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s historic 1973 trip – the first by an Australian Prime Minister to the People’s Republic of China.
Mr Albanese will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, where the government hopes relations between the two countries will stabilize.
While the visit will put a spotlight on trade, the prime minister will also call for the release of Dr. Yang, who was detained by Chinese authorities in 2019 and faces espionage charges, the basis of which is unclear.
Australian academic Yang Hengjun (pictured with his wife) remains in a Chinese prison on espionage charges
βI will say that the case of Dr. Yang must be resolved and I will speak about his human rights, the nature of the detention and the lack of transparent processes,β Mr Albanese said in Darwin.
Although the government has addressed the issue of Dr. Yang has previously mentioned, there is renewed hope following the recent release of Chinese-born Australian television journalist Cheng Lei after three years in captivity, also on espionage-related charges.
It comes after Dr Yang’s family wrote a heartfelt letter to the Prime Minister ahead of his meeting with the Chinese President.
Dr Yang’s sons urged the Prime Minister to “act now” and “achieve a second miracle by saving our father, who has now spent four years and nine months in detention.”
βWe request that you do everything in your power to save our father’s life and return him immediately to family and freedom in Australia,β they wrote.
“We ask that you make it clear that it is not possible to stabilize the bilateral relationship with a government that is detaining an Australian citizen just a few kilometers south of where you will be housed.”
Mr. Yang has been jailed on espionage charges since he was arrested at Guangzhou airport in January 2019 on his way to visit his sick brother.
Dr. Yang faced a closed-door trial in Beijing in May 2021 and has been languishing in a cell ever since. No verdict has been made public.
Anthony Albanese (left) will call for resolution of Dr. Yang during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) on Monday. Pictured are the two leaders at a meeting in 2022
Mr Albanese will also focus on reviving the bilateral China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, resolving Chinese trade bans on certain Australian exports, and future dispute resolution.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner, especially for iron ore, natural gas and crucial minerals such as lithium.
βThe fact that this is the first visit in seven years to our most important trading partner is a very positive step, and I look forward to constructive discussions and dialogue with the President and Prime Minister during my visits to Shanghai and Beijing,β Albanese said. .
At the height of a diplomatic row with China in 2020, Beijing imposed trade bans worth $20 billion on Australian products.
The Labor government has managed to reduce these rates to around $2 billion since winning government in 2022.
China lifted tariffs on barley in August following a review and is in the middle of a five-month review of its $1.2 billion ban on Australian wine.
The remaining trade issues are the ban on lobster and beef exports, and hopes are high that at least one of these issues will be resolved.
Imprisoned Australian academic Yang Hengjun (pictured) recently told the Prime Minister in a letter that he is close to being destroyed.β “I just hope I can get out alive.”
However, Mr Albanese has also indicated that Australia will not support China’s push to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement.
Xi is expected to lobby the prime minister for Australia’s support for his country’s bid to join the 12-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
China regards the relationship with Canberra as one of the key points of its relations with developed countries.
But it also believes its application to join the trans-Pacific trading bloc is crucial to improving economic cooperation between the two nations.
On Sunday, Mr Albanese will attend the opening of the China International Import Expo trade fair in Shanghai.
More than 200 Australian companies will be represented at the event, with Mr Albanese expected to visit the stalls of Australian companies in the agricultural sector.
Mr Albanese, pictured in Darwin on Saturday, is on his way to Beijing for a meeting with the Chinese president
Trade Minister Don Farrell will join the Prime Minister at the event and is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao.
A delegation of Business Council of Australia members will also travel to Shanghai with Mr Albanese this weekend in a bid to boost economic opportunities.
Albanese’s visit will include a grand ceremonial welcome on Monday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where he will meet Mr Xi.
The couple last met a year ago at a G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
The next day, he returns to the Great Hall to meet Prime Minister Li Qiang before leaving for home.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong is also accompanying Albanese to China.