The novelist, blogger and former Chinese diplomat did not complete the second leg of his travel plans from Guangzhou to Shanghai

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been detained in China by local authorities, the Australian government has confirmed.

Australia’s foreign affairs department received confirmation on Wednesday that the novelist and influential online commentator had been detained.

“The department is seeking to clarify the nature of this detention and to obtain consular access to him, in accordance with the bilateral consular agreement, as a matter of priority,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

The confirmation comes as the Australian defence minister, Christopher Pyne, begins a trip to Beijing on Thursday.

Yang is a former Chinese diplomat, a novelist and blogger who obtained a PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney, and later became an Australian citizen.

His friends became concerned Chinese government security officials were detaining Yang in Beijing after he didn’t complete the second leg of his travel plans from Guangzhou to Shanghai on 19 January. Yang was travelling with his wife and son.

Pyne will meet with his counterpart, the minister of national defence, General Wei Fenghe, and other senior Chinese officials to discuss regional security and bilateral issues.

The issue of Dr Yang is likely to be raised by the minister during the meetings.

“The government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respect – China and Australia’s success will go hand-in-hand,” Pyne said in a statement earlier this week.

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Yang hasn’t tweeted since 18 January. It is not the first time Yang has been detained in China. It previously happened in 2011 and coincided with authorities rounding up dozens of lawyers, activists and bloggers.

His novel Fatal Weakness deals with espionage between China and the US and has been published on the internet in China. He also writes a blog that frequently discusses issues involving China’s government.

The China expert John Garnaut expressed concern for Yang’s welfare. “Dr Yang is not only brilliant but extraordinarily popular among the Chinese speaking world. And a courageous and committed democrat. This will reverberate globally, if authorities do not quickly find an off-ramp,” he said on Twitter.

Labor leader Bill Shorten said it was “disappointing” and “not the way the arrangements are meant to work”, in reference to an agreement requiring China to notify Australia within three days if an Australian citizen is detained.

“You can’t sugar-coat this,” Shorten told ABC News Breakfast.

“I’m very supportive of all efforts to reach out to him, to get to the bottom of what is happening. But it is very concerning, I can’t pretend otherwise.”

Australia recently expressed concern about China’s detention of two Canadians in retaliation for the arrest in Canada of a senior Huawei executive.