The Australian wife, detained in China, cries for answers

The wife of an Australian citizen jailed in China has tearfully asked for answers to the fate of her husband, who was once a Communist Party insider.

She broke her silence for an ABC investigation into how the Chinese are influencing Australian politics, including billionaire real estate developer Huang Xiangmo, who sparked a new dispute between former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his bitter rival liberal party leader Peter Dutton.

Xiaoliang Yuan and her husband Yang Hengjun flew to China in January.

When they arrived with their 14-year-old daughter, officials were waiting at the airport.

Three months after her husband's detention without charge, Ms. Xiaoliang said in her first media interview that she had no idea where he was.

"My family, a family member that I was with every day and then suddenly disappeared," she said tearfully to the ABC's Four Corners program.

"I have absolutely no idea whether he is fine or whether he is alive or not.

& # 39; It's just no news at all. So I'm devastated. I just want him to come home safely. & # 39;

Mr. Yang has not been charged, but has been accused of endangering state security and has been denied access to a lawyer, the ABC reported.

His wife was banned from leaving China and remains in Shanghai.

Mr. Yang was arrested after Chinese officials learned that he had met with Mr. Turnbull's Chinese adviser, John Garnaut, who was preparing a top-secret report on the Communist Party's interference in Australian affairs.

Xiaoliang Yuan (left) and her husband Yang Hengjun (right) flew to Shanghai in January. Mr. Yang was arrested after Chinese officials learned that he had spilled secrets about the Communist Party regime

Mr. Garnaut declined to disclose the content of his report to ABC, but indicated that Chinese officials felt threatened by Mr. Yang.

"This is the most powerful story of all, is the insider who has learned too much and tells his story outside," he said.

The Four Corners program also revealed how former Howard government minister Santo Santoro had persuaded interior minister Mr. Dutton to speed up Mr. Huang's offer of citizenship.

Mr Santoro, who, like Mr Dutton, came from the right Liberal National Party faction in Queensland, had accepted a payment of USD 10,000 from Mr Huang to forward his case to the then Immigration Minister.

"There is no one better able to help you with this particular part of the project than I am," said Santoro.

& # 39; Nobody. I can go to someone in the minister's office and say, "Can you take a closer look?"

One day after the ABC investigation was broadcast, Malcolm Turnbull (to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping) requested a statement from Mr. Dutton, who unsuccessfully challenged him in August to lead the Liberal Party

"If I do the job and go to Canberra with a copy of the visa application and hand it over to someone and say," Can you help? ", No, no, I want to be paid and paid in advance. & # 39;

One day after the ABC investigation was broadcast, Mr. Turnbull requested a statement from Mr. Dutton, who unsuccessfully challenged him in August to lead the Liberal Party.

"Peter Dutton has a lot to explain," he told reporters in Sydney.

& # 39; He is said to be the minister responsible for Australia's internal security.

"He should be the minister responsible for ensuring that our policies are not influenced by foreign actors."

Mr. Dutton (pictured) confirmed lunch with Mr. Huang in 2016 but declined the businessman's support

Mr. Dutton confirmed lunch with Mr. Huang to the Australian Associated Press in 2016, but declined to support the businessman who was banned from re-entering Australia last year after the Australian security and intelligence agency said he was threatening foreigners Interfering with his ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr. Turnbull said his successor Scott Morrison could not dismiss the topic as "gossip in the Canberra bubble".

"I know what it's like to be prime minister, and it's ultimately your responsibility. And so Scott Morrison has to deal with this Peter Dutton problem, ”he said.

The one-on-one meeting followed Mr. Dutton's approval of an application for a private citizenship ceremony for Mr. Huang's wife and daughter in January 2015 at former Labor Senator Sam Dastyari's office in Sydney.

Former Labor Senator Sam Dastyari (pictured) held a private citizenship ceremony for Mr. Huang's wife and daughter at his Sydney election office

The private event enabled them to become citizens faster than others who have to wait for a public ceremony.

Mr. Dastyari, who was forced to leave parliament in 2018 after his business with Mr. Huang was revealed, told ABC that he had written to Mr. Dutton asking for accelerated citizenship for Mr. Huang's family.

"I'm not the immigration minister, am I? I mean, if Peter Dutton's explanation for Sam Dastyari asking him is ridiculous, ”he said.

In December 2017, Mr. Dutton accused Mr. Dastyari of being a double agent for China.

"If you are an Australian senator, you cannot be loyal to two countries," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"Your first duty is the Australian people and Sam Dastyari has failed to do so."