A Chinese-Australian writer who went missing at the weekend has been detained in China, the Australian government says.

Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese diplomat, has been held since flying from New York to Guangzhou on Saturday.

China informed Australia that the 53-year-old popular blogger was in custody, but it has not clarified why.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged China to handle the matter "transparently and fairly".

Ms Payne said embassy officials would meet with Chinese counterparts on Thursday to "arrange consular access at the earliest possible opportunity".

Mr Yang, an Australian citizen, travelled to China with his wife, Chinese national Yuan Rui Juan, and young stepson.

It is believed that Ms Yuan has been interviewed by Chinese officials in Beijing, after first travelling to Shanghai to leave her son with relatives.

Chinese officials have not commented since confirming Mr Yang's detention to Australia. On Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said she was "not aware" of the case.

He has a sizeable following online and has sometimes written critically about China's Communist Party, but less so in recent times. He also authors spy novels.

Mr Yang was briefly unreachable on a trip to China in 2011 - prompting fears he was missing - but later attributed the episode to a "misunderstanding".

Source: BBC

BDST: 0953 HRS, JAN 24, 2019
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