Just before his arrest, he had successfully shifted from selling ideas to selling clothing, medicine and other products from the United States to consumers hungry for foreign goods in China.
Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun.credit: AP
What was he accused of?
Yang was arrested at Guangzhou airport in 2019 after arriving with his wife from their home in New York. Yang was accused of spying for an unnamed country, and the accusations against him are still shrouded in secrecy.
China's opaque judicial system means national security trials take place behind closed doors, leaving the Australian government and Yang's supporters unaware of the crimes he is alleged to have committed. Yang's family and the Australian government have denied all espionage charges against him.
The lack of information has sparked suggestions that he was targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government. Yang was arrested a year before tensions between China and Australia reached their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. But his arrest followed increasing hostility between the two countries which peaked when the Turnbull government introduced anti-foreign interference laws and banned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from Australia's 5G network.
Yang Hengjun's post on Weibo about selling clothes in 2017. “Good morning everyone, let me tell you good news! I picked up 10 orange-red hard shell jackets that were a size short early this morning!”
How does he cope?
Yang's health deteriorated rapidly during the five years he spent in prison, which were also marked by allegations of torture and isolation.
Consular reports by Australian officials last year said Yang had difficulty standing and fell several times. The Chinese doctors treating Yang in prison identified a 10-centimeter cyst on one of his kidneys, but they confirmed that he was in good health, and prescribed three vitamin tablets and an egg in addition to his daily diet. Yang's family has long feared that he would die in prison due to lack of medical treatment.
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During his first four years in prison, Yang was regularly subjected to brutal interrogations and was prohibited from writing and reading while isolated due to coronavirus restrictions.
How is his condition different from Qing Li's?
Yang and journalist Cheng Lei, who was released from a Chinese prison in October, were both born in China and have Australian citizenship. This means that the Chinese judicial system is likely to regard them as Chinese nationals and treat them more harshly if any alleged crimes are committed.
But Yang's past working within the Chinese government put him on the highest threshold for punishment because of the way the regime treats those who have fled the country and the Chinese Communist Party.
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Australian authorities have always kept Yang's and Qing's cases separate throughout their negotiations with Beijing. Cheng, a TV presenter, was jailed for violating the media ban by just a few minutes. Australians were never optimistic about Yang being released at the same time as the Melbourne mother-of-two. Now their worst fears have been realized.
What are the implications for the relationship between Australia and China?
Yang's sentence is a devastating blow to Yang's family and supporters. It is also a major setback for Australia-China relations after a year of steady improvement in relations. Yang's issue will now dominate all dealings between the two countries' leaders, including any visit by Premier Li Qiang later this year.
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