He was enrolled in a PhD in China studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, under my supervision in 2006, and worked with me on a Chinese newspaper, Sydney Times, at the same time, starting his journey as a liberal scholar. Loading Dr Yang is that rare combination of a scholar superbly trained in China and the West. He got his PhD in 2009 with a thesis titled The Internet and China: the Impacts of Netizen Reporters and Bloggers on Democratisation in China. The thesis was a timely in-depth analysis of interactions between the internet and the Chinese communist regime. It demonstrated the real picture of the ongoing information warfare between the internet and the Chinese communist government. On the one hand, the Chinese communist party-state has extended its skilful control over the print media and the internet with increasingly sophisticated mechanisms such as manipulating, blocking, filtering, policing and ensuring self-censorship through a combination of rewards and harsh punishments. On the other hand, the introduction of the new communication technology in China has engendered the growth of a new social stratum of "netizens" who have managed with some success to circumvent the obstacles created by the party-state and access multiple sources of information. Instead of pursuing a career in academia or literature, Dr Yang has chosen to devote his talent and passion to journalism. Credit:Sanghee Liu

Instead of pursuing a career in academia or literature, Dr Yang has chosen to devote his talent and passion to internet journalism, although he does occasionally contribute presentations at academic conferences. Many would think this career choice does not do justice to his talent and expertise, but actually, due to the heavy censorship imposed by the Chinese regime on all forms of public expression, including formal scholarship in books and academic journals, serious intellectual contributions are often found in the form of blogs. However, the primary reason for Yang’s detention this time is something other than political activism; it also serves the ongoing crackdown on political dissent in China. Yang has scaled down his political and cyber activism substantially over the past three years. Yang’s seizure is an extension of the “hostage diplomacy” by Beijing. After Meng Wanzhou, financial executive officer of Huawei, was detained in Canada in December for extradition to the US on charges of bank deception, Chinese authorities arrested two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in China and sentenced another Canadian citizen, Robert Schellenberg, to death. Loading

Yang’s arrest serves the purpose of granting additional leverage to the Chinese government in international negotiations for the protection and promotion of Huawei around the world. The Chinese authorities have been upset by the rejection of the 5G project of Huawei in Australia, which has also taken the lead in democratic push-back since 2017 against China’s political inference and infiltration around the world. In addition, Yang’s arrest is a decisive act to deter Australian intelligence organisations in dealing with Chinese agents as a part of the counter foreign interference laws, which became effective in November 2018. What next? Yang is now put under “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location”, a peculiar form of detention used by security authorities against individuals accused of endangering state security. The detention occurs at a location sealed off from the outside world, a “black jail” where the suspects are subjected to intensive interrogations, sometimes with torture, for confession of crimes fabricated by the authorities. Those under residential surveillance may be held for up to six months without access to legal counsel or visits by relatives. Yang was arrested by the Chinese secret police in 2011 for his involvement in political activism. I launched a media campaign for his release and was involved in the negotiation with the Chinese secret police. He was quickly released on the condition that he and I would not disclose his detention, or what he could and could not do after his release. Yang no longer has that luck this time. It is likely that Yang will be charged as an American spy, as the crime of espionage needs a foreign intelligence organisation. The Australian government and public need to be absolutely firm on the request for the immediate release of Dr Yang back to Australia. The Chinese communist regime should never be allowed to set the rules and create a precedent of taking hostages for political and commercial purposes, endangering the life of Australians working in or travelling to China.

Dr Feng Chongyi is an associate professor in China studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.