He then emigrated to Australia, became an Australian citizen, wrote spy novels and pro-democracy blog posts, and obtained a Ph.D. in China Studies.
In January 2019 Yang flew into Guangzhou to renew visas for his family and was arrested by the Chinese Government.
[5] In September 2014, Yang was invited by the Chinese authorities to Beijing to attend the reception party celebrating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
believe that he was detained as a result of the government crackdown on activists, lawyers, and bloggers following calls for a 'Jasmine' revolution in China since February 2011.
On 29 August 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Nine News, "These suggestions that he's acted as a spy for Australia are absolutely untrue and we'll be protecting and seeking to support our citizen, as we have been doing now for some period of time.
[1] The arrest came amid worsening Australia-China relations, with Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE being excluded from the Australian 5G technology market, Australia pushing for an investigation of the origins of COVID-19, and China imposing trade sanctions.
[17] A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Canberra responded to Payne's “deplorable” comments and called on Australia to respect China's judicial sovereignty.
[18] In a letter dictated from prison in March 2021, Yang said he has been interrogated over 300 times by many different people, sometimes while shackled and blindfolded, and as a result of his 26-month detainment he had experienced a decline in health.
Wearing a full protective suit, mask and goggles, despite Beijing recording no new community transmission of COVID-19 for almost four months, Yang pleaded not guilty.
[21] On 31 May the Associated Press published Yang's account of the one-day trial as circulated amongst his friends, in which he told supporters he had asked for the judge to reject the evidence of what he had said while being tortured by interrogators.
[22] In January 2022 it was reported that Yang, who along with the Australian government continued to maintain his innocence, was suffering seriously deteriorating health.
[23][24] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on 1 November 2023 that his family has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to help "save" Yang.