Australian citizen Yang Hengjun’s death sentence for espionage in China has complicated the improvement of China–Australia relations. The case highlights concerns about China’s legal system, particularly regarding national security cases where the judiciary lacks transparency and independence. Despite international condemnation, China continues to issue numerous death sentences. The case also underscores the growing mistrust and espionage concerns between China and the West, which have implications for individuals and firms caught between the two sides.
On 5 February 2024 Australian citizen Yang Hengjun was handed a suspended death sentence by a Chinese court for alleged espionage. The sentence was a setback for China–Australia relations, which have otherwise stabilised and even somewhat improved in 2024.
Commentators have speculated that the sentence was a deliberate affront to Australia, either by security agencies or by the central government. But death with reprieve is becoming more common in China following international condemnation of the high rate of death sentences. It is most likely that domestic politics and the Chinese legal system determined the outcome in Yang’s case. If it was intended as a rebuff to Canberra’s somewhat tentative stabilisation of diplomatic relations, it had the opposite effect, as it greatly shocked the Australian public.
The verdict of the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court was issued in public and witnessed by........