FILE PHOTO: Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, who is now an Australian citizen, gestures in an unspecified location in Tibet, China, sometime in mid-July, 2014 in this social media image obtained by REUTERS
BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A Chinese-born Australian writer detained by authorities in Beijing for suspected espionage has long been a divisive figure among overseas Chinese dissidents and activists.
To his supporters, Yang Hengjun is a dedicated democracy activist who believed that China's autocratic system would, with time, necessarily liberalize. His detractors say he had long since abandoned criticising the ruling Chinese Communist Party in favour of protecting his personal and business interests.
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