Regime Security Trumps Relationships for Beijing
The following is an excerpt from Andrew Chubb's article in East Asia Forum. Andrew is a Fellow on Foreign Policy and National Security at the Asia Society Policy Institute's (ASPI) Center for China Analysis (CCA).
Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s June 2024 tour of Australia was widely viewed as signaling Beijing’s desire to bring an end to years of frozen diplomatic relations, political disputes and economic coercion.
But the fate of Australian writer and businessman Yang Jun, known under his pen name Yang Hengjun, hangs unresolved after the visit — both as an ongoing human tragedy and as an indication of where relations with Australia sit among the priorities of President Xi Jinping’s China.
Since the election of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2022, Beijing has sought to repair ties with Australia, allowing ministerial contact and gradually easing restrictions on Australian exports. Following three years of COVID-19 restrictions, Xi signaled China’s tactical reprioritization of economic growth and openness to foreign business in December 2022.
The suspended death sentence dealt to Yang in February 2024 clearly demonstrated that the two key themes of Li’s trip — building foreign relationships and economic growth — remain firmly subordinate to regime security.
Yang’s case contrasts with that of former CGTN host and Australian citizen Cheng Lei, who was released in October 2023 after spending three years in a Chinese prison on national security charges. Five months before her release, Albanese publicly demanded ‘proper justice’ for ‘Australians such as Cheng Lei’. But while the improvement in bilateral relations enabled Cheng’s repatriation, the Chinese authorities have only doubled down on Yang’s harsh punishment.