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Rights Groups Urge China to End Enforced Disappearances

Joyce Huang

   Marking the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances on
   Aug.30,several human rights groups called on China to stop using the
   practice of disappearances to silence human rights defenders,
   dissidents and other members of civil society.
   They are urging the government in Beijing to immediately release those
   being held, including Yang Hengjun --an Australian writer of Chinese
   origin, whom Beijing has officially charged with espionage after a
   months-long detention. The former government official was detained in
   January as he prepared to head to Shanghai after traveling to Guangzhou
   from New York with family. He has been held without access to family or
   lawyers since then. Yang, who was later moved to Beijing, has been a
   vocal critic of Chinese authorities.
   Rights groups, including the International Service for Human Rights and
   Safeguard Defenders, called China's arrest of foreign citizens,
   including Yang and two Canadians, part of its aggressive "hostage
   diplomacy," according to a joint statement.
   Hostage diplomacy
   Some observers believe that Yang's incarceration may be linked to
   Australia's decision to ban the purchase of equipment from Chinese
   telecommunications giant Huawei over security concerns. Others,
   however, argued that Yang may be a target under China's campaigns to
   find double agents in politics or elsewhere.
   Yang was formerly a diplomat at China's foreign affairs ministry before
   working in the private sector in Hong Kong and moving to the United
   States and then Australia. Yang holds Australian citizenship.
   Once a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, the
   54-year-old writer, known as the "democracy peddler," has been a
   popular political commentator. He has called for democratic reforms in
   China over the past decade.
   He is also famous for his spy thriller Fatal Weakness, which is one of
   three books in a series.
   Trade barbs
   During a recent interview with CNN, Australian Prime Minister Scott
   Morrison denounced the allegations against Yang as "absolutely untrue"
   and pledged to "stand up" for him.
   In response, China on Thursday criticized Morrison for what it called
   his "wanton" comments.

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