Beijing's suspended death sentence for Australian Yang Hengjun shows limits of improved China ties
China's decision to impose a suspended death sentence on an Australian writer underscores the uneasy truce between Canberra and Beijing as both governments try to stabilise.
There was a moment on Monday when Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong highlighted, more than ever before, the limits of Australia’s rapprochement with China.
Wong had just delivered the “most harrowing news” that Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun had been sentenced to death by a Chinese court, which can be commuted to life in prison after a two-year reprieve for good behaviour.
Asked what the sentence said about the state of the Australia-China relationship after the Albanese government had spent more than 18 months stabilising ties, Wong pointed to her government’s long-held view that “stabilisation means we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and we engage in the national interest”.
“Clearly this is an occasion in which we disagree,” she said.
Wong and Anthony Albanese have staked much of their foreign policy on mending ties with Beijing which has included lifting of trade sanctions, the release of Australian citizen Cheng Lei and the prime minister’s visit to China.
