China Says Australian Dissident Given Suspended Death Sentence

Chinese-Australian dissident writer Yang Jun has been handed a suspended death sentence for espionage in China, Beijing and Canberra said Monday, five years after he was arrested on a rare visit to his homeland.

The Chinese-born Australian citizen has been in jail in China since 2019 on spying allegations and is said to be in ill health.

China's foreign ministry said the writer, who gained a huge following in exile for his spy novels and calls for greater freedom in his homeland, was sentenced by a Beijing court Monday "in an espionage case in accordance with the law".