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Yang Jun told his supporters that he had been abused in a secret detention after being arrested in 2019.
An Australian academic on trial for espionage in China has been tortured into custody and does not yet know in which countries he has been accused of spying on his friends.
According to the Chinese-born Yang Jun, he was ill-treated when he was detained in a secret area where he was detained more than two years ago.
“The first six months … it was a very bad time. They tortured me,” he said in a message seen by AFP.
“They have already been detained in a worse place than prison for two years.”
The trial of the 56-year-old academic began behind closed doors on Thursday, and the Australian ambassador in Beijing denied access.
Yang said he could eat with only two teeth due to dental problems and was “tired and confused” at Thursday’s hearing, “because he didn’t feel like talking enough.”
“I only talked for three or five minutes. My defense wasn’t so good. “
Yang stressed that he is “100 percent innocent,” and said he did not try to get the interrogation documents and did not succeed.
“It’s illegal. Torture, ”he said, and accused authorities of using a“ hidden camera ”.
“They interrogated me, they told me I had to admit … Maybe someone was taking revenge on me.”
Yang also said he failed to allow him to present evidence in his defense and call witnesses.
Beijing has said the trial could be held in secret because it involves “secret states” and has criticized Australia for “intervening” at a time when relations between the two countries are deteriorating.
Yang, also known as Yang Hengjun, said he still did not know who he was accused of spying on.
“This is not a crime of ideology. The allegations are about espionage. Who did I work for? If this is a crime and I am a criminal, who did I work for? I didn’t work in Australia or the US, ”he said.
“I only write for people. Writing for the rule of law, democracy and freedom. “
Yang has repeatedly worked for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hainan province, but Beijing has denied it.
In 1992, the Chinese mainland is believed to have moved to Hong Kong, where he traveled to the United States five years later, where he worked at the Atlantic Council plant.
He later took on Australian citizenship – although Beijing does not recognize dual nationality – and wrote a series of spy novels and a popular Chinese-language blog.
Yang disappeared from China more than once, in 2011, and described his disappearance as “misunderstood” when he was resurrected a few days ago.
Beijing has provided almost no details about his case since he was arrested.
He convicts most of the country’s judicial system and can be sentenced to life in prison for espionage charges.
Relations between Canberra and Beijing have deteriorated a lot in recent years, with conflicts ranging from the telecommunications giant Huawei to the origins of COVID-19 and the origins of human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
China has imposed $ 1 billion in tariffs on Australian exports and cut diplomatic channels between the two countries.
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