The Chinese Communist Party has long made the country unsafe for religious minorities, journalists, feminists, lawyers, and human rights activists. But, under Xi Jinping, China is becoming increasingly unsafe for any politically engaged foreign national.

Since January 18, Chinese-Australian writer and activist Yang Hengjun has been held in arbitrary detention. His crime? Daring to question communist party orthodoxy by suggesting that the Chinese people are capable of democratic self-government.

Pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun has been detained in China since January. Credit:AAP

Yang has been charged with espionage and languished in prison for nearly a year. The conditions of Yang’s detention are an affront to any standard of human decency.

Despite being in "good health" before his detention, reports from Yang’s lawyers indicate that he is now "suffering [from] high blood pressure, and serious problems with his kidney function". He is being given unknown "medications" and his hands and feet are being "shackled" during interrogations.