The Australian blogger facing espionage charges in China has expressed his concerns on how geopolitical tensions may influence the outcome of his case.
Yang Hengjun said in his first comment since last week's court hearing that "bad international relations" may be detrimental to his trial.
Since his arrest and detention in January 2019, diplomatic relations between China and Australia have greatly deteriorated. Due to disagreements on issues such as the coronavirus, both countries have imposed tit-for-tat sanctions against each other with China implementing a trade ban that has crippled several Australian industries.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Yang conveyed to his family and friends his concerns over the outcome of the trial given the strained relations between the two nations.
"If a wrong decision is made because of political pressure or bad international relations, under the pretext of national security, that's bad. I hope Australia can keep communicating with China on good terms to help bring about my release as soon as possible," Yang said.
Australian officials have been working to get Yang released. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne visited Yang over the weekend and commented that his was a case of "arbitrary detention."
Yang said he was satisfied with the defense presented by the lawyers during the last hearing. Yang's family had hired human rights lawyers Mo Shaoping and Shang Baojun. The trial has been closed to Yang's family and Australian consular officials. Chinese officials said the hearings involved discussions of state secrets.
Yang said he had met with the judge presiding over the case and requested that statements made when he was tortured be excluded. Yang also told the judge that he hoped that the Chinese rule of law would win.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry previously denied that Yang was tortured. Ministry representative, Zhao Lijian, said all of Yang's lawful rights were protected and he was not tortured or abused while he was in custody.
Yang was arrested over his posts about Chinese democracy and for allegations of working for other governments. Yang denied the allegations and said he doesn't work for the U.S. or Australia and he wrote those posts for the Chinese people.
