China: Writer Yang Hengjun’s health deteriorates as decision on suspended death sentence looms

Image credit: Badiucao

“Reports of the appalling treatment of imprisoned writer Yang Hengjun are deeply painful, highlighting the Chinese authorities’ failure to provide adequate medical care for those detained on politically motivated grounds. It is distressing to see his health deteriorate under such conditions. We stand with him and continue to call for his immediate release, as well as for the care he deserves while unjustly detained” - Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

5 February 2025: Chinese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release imprisoned writer Yang Hengjun and ensure that he has adequate access to food and medical care while he remains imprisoned, PEN International said today. Yang Hengjun is currently serving a suspended death sentence, and alarming reports have emerged regarding his worsening health and ill-treatment.

One year ago today, reports emerged that Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen, had been handed down a suspended death sentence by a court in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). For a government that has routinely subjected numerous writers, journalists and academics to long-term imprisonment, the severity of Yang Hengjun’s sentence served as an appalling reminder of the extent that Chinese authorities are willing to weaponize the legal system to silence dissenting voices. Following the announcement of Yang’s suspended death sentence, PEN International joined PEN Centres around the world in condemning the decision.

According to a statement released last year by Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peggy Wong, Yang’s sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment if he does not commit any ‘serious crimes’ in a two-year period. In mid-2024, PEN International learnt that Yang was transferred to Beijing Municipal No. 2 Prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Since his transfer, Yang has continued to suffer from ill health, including a large cyst on his kidney that had not been adequately treated. More recently, media reports have disclosed that Yang’s health has further deteriorated in recent months, impacting his ability to participate in a prison labour programme, which provides prisoners with an allowance necessary to purchase basic amenities including food and cold weather clothing. Unable to work due to his worsening health, Yang has reportedly been unable to afford basic necessities, including toothpaste, and has been forced to wear socks on his hands as he cannot afford to purchase gloves on his reduced allowance.

In China, denial of access to adequate medical care is routinely used as a form of punishment and deliberate ill-treatment for those detained on politically motivated grounds. High-profile examples include writer, Nobel laureate and two-time president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Liu Xiaobo, who was belatedly diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer while serving an 11-year prison sentence. One month after his diagnosis, Liu died in a hospital bed under police guard, raising serious questions about his treatment.

Yang Hengjun is an Australian novelist, scholar and political commentator who was detained in January 2019 by the Chinese government’s security services after he flew from the US to China. He was initially held at a secret location for six months in a notorious form of extrajudicial detention called Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location, where he was reportedly tortured. In August 2019 Yang was formally arrested on suspicion of espionage without any evidence supporting the charge disclosed to his family or consular representatives.

Over the following two years of pre-trial detention, Yang was denied family visits and was granted limited access to legal counsel and consular visits. He was reportedly subjected to over 300 interrogations and his request for the dismissal of testimony he gave under torture was denied by the Chinese government.

On 27 May 2021, Yang’s trial was held behind closed doors and reportedly lasted less than seven hours, with his consular representatives denied the ability to attend, a breach of both the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the Australia-China bilateral consular agreement. On 5 February 2024, over two and a half years after his trial took place, Yang Hengjun was handed down a suspended death sentence.

PEN International is gravely concerned for Yang Hengjun’s health and access to adequate medical care while imprisoned. In light of the numerous procedural issues surrounding his trial and detention, the organisation renews its call for his immediate and unconditional release, and to ensure he has access to adequate medical care in accordance with China’s international human rights obligations.

For further information on Yang Hengjun’s case, please see our previous joint statement.

Note to Editors:

For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of Asia-Pacific region at PEN International, email: ross.holder@pen-international.org

For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager,  Sabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org