Family of Australian blogger jailed in China pleads for urgent release: ‘I’m sick, I’m weak, I’m dying’

Australian prime minister says he will raise plight of detained writer with Chinese leaders during his landmark visit

Yang Hengjun, who is now an Australian citizen, is pictured in an unknown location in Tibet (REUTERS)

The family members of a writer jailed in China have called on the Australian government to secure his release amid growing fears that he might die in prison.

Yang Hengjun, 57, was arrested in 2019 and secretly tried behind closed doors on an espionage charge in Beijing in May 2021. He is still awaiting a verdict after the announcement was postponed several times.

His sons, aged 24 and 31, have written to Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese ahead of his state visit to China this weekend, which is aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday said he would raise the plight of the detained Australian national with Chinese leaders during his visit. "We're very sympathetic and understand the concerns that they would have for their father and for this Australian who has been detained now for a long period of time," the prime minister told reporters.

The sons reportedly were "inspired" to speak up following the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who reunited with her two children in Melbourne last month after being detained for three years.

"We ask that you make it clear that it is not possible to stabilize the bilateral relationship with a government that is holding an Australian citizen just a few kilometers south of where you will be hosted," the brothers added, referring to Beijing.

They said they had just last week received the first letter Yang had been allowed to send from detention. Mr Yang wrote: "I'm sick, I'm weak, I'm dying."

During his detention, Mr Yang has been subjected to "more than 300 interrogations" and "six months of intense torture", his family said, according to BBC.

In August Mr Yang learnt that the cause of what felt like muscle strain was a 10-centimetre (4-inch) cyst on a kidney. The doctor said no treatment was required unless the cyst becomes too painful, ruptures or bleeds, Mr Yang told his family.

Mr Yang previously worked for China's ministry of state security and went on to blog about Chinese affairs.

Family friend Feng Chongyi said the sons had not been publicly identified because they feared Chinese retaliation for their father's activities.

Mr Feng said Mr Albanese being the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016 created an opportunity for Mr Yang.

"It's not the last chance, but it's the best chance," he told the Associated Press. "The visit symbolises the complete normalization of relations between the two countries."

Mr Albanese's visit that begins on Saturday is a sign that bilateral relations have improved since his center-left government was elected last year following nine years of conservative rule. He will meet with president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang in Beijing and attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai during the three-day visit.

Mr Albanese previously raised the plights of Mr Yang and Ms Cheng in his first meeting with the Chinese leader on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia a year ago.