"An ... officer told me that Australia was small and wouldn’t care about me. He said Australia was dependent on China for its trade and economy, and Canberra wouldn’t help me, let alone rescue me," Dr Yang told Australian consular officials. "He said Australia wouldn’t help because I am not white. This is nonsense. He was wrong. I am extremely grateful to the Australian prime minister, foreign minister and members of parliament, the embassy team, and the Ambassador for their help." Feng Chongyi, Dr Yang's former supervisor at the University of Technology, Sydney, said on Wednesday it was "major progress" that Senator Payne had denied he was spying for Australia because "the charge of espionage, even in Chinese law, has to have direct connection with foreign intelligence". Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Wednesday criticised "groundless and extremely irresponsible" Australian remarks. "We urge the Australian side to earnestly respect the Chinese judicial sovereignty, stop hype and pressure, and not intervene in any way." Dr Yang's wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Wednesday she was shocked her husband had been charged with espionage She says her husband's life revolves around his family and he would never do anything to undermine China.

Ms Yuan, 37, has been prevented from leaving China under an exit ban by security agencies as they investigate her husband's case. "Most of his family members live in China. I don't believe that he will do anything that undermines the country because undermining the country is undermining his family," she said. On Tuesday, he was formally arrested on suspicion of espionage, a serious charge that can attract a prison sentence of more than 10 years. His Australian lawyer Rob Stary said he believed Dr Yang would be accused of spying for Australia. Dr Yang has been in custody since he was detained by 10 officials as he arrived at a Chinese airport from New York with Ms Yuan and her 14-year-old daughter in January this year. She hasn't seen him since. Australian embassy officials, who have one visit per month, have not been able to pass personal items to Dr Yang in the detention centre.

Loading "Even a fly can't get in," Ms Yuan said. "I'm not allowed to meet him, or the lawyer." Ms Yuan, who has a high profile in China as a patriotic blogger, says her husband gave up a good job "in the system" to take up the life of a writer 20 years ago. He moved to Australia to study. "He is a very gentle person, and many people on the internet recognise him as such. He rarely argues with anyone or offends people. He is a very extraordinary person," she said. Ms Yuan said the espionage allegation was made while Dr Yang was in secret detention under national security laws, but she had hoped it would be dropped.

"I am shocked because after so long they still insist on a conviction." "He will not admit what he has not done," she said. Foreign Minister Marise Payne has insisted there is "no basis for any allegation Dr Yang was spying for the Australian government" and had no information to suggest he was spying for any other country. "I can't imagine it," said Ms Yuan on Wednesday. "I absolutely don't believe that my husband will do such a thing." The couple had been living in New York and earning money as "daigou" - selling local American products on the internet to Chinese consumers - while Dr Yang was a visiting scholar at Columbia University.

Dr Yang had a large following on Chinese social media where he wrote about democracy, but was careful not to cross the Chinese government's red line. His New York landlord has previously told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that Dr Yang had even attracted the ire of hardened anti-China dissidents in exile in New York because they believed he supported the Chinese government. Xiaoliang Yuan says she just wants her husband home safely. Dr Yang had studied for a PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney, during a boom time in China's blogging and social media. Ms Yuan said many of her husband's readers in Australia had kept in touch with her and they firmly believe he is innocent. His family didn't understand why he had given up his Chinese government job to become a writer, she says.

"He has written articles for so many years, but never earned money from writing articles. He has voluntarily written articles - around 10-20 million characters - to disseminate the most basic democracy for the Chinese people. I think he is an extraordinary person." "His desire was different from what most people desire. So it is hard for me to put the two words of 'him' and 'spy' together. I've been with him for so many years, he is a person who has no desire for materiality. His mind is full of democratic concepts and his family." Yang Hengjun and his wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, photographed in Barcelona. Ms Yuan applied for Australian permanent residency before her husband was arrested and it was approved in July, but she was stopped from leaving China under an exit ban. Senator Payne said on Wednesday it was "extremely important" that Dr Yang be given access to his lawyers and be allowed to communicate with his family.