Australian premier will protest blogger’s detention conditions while meeting the Chinese president

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will protest a lack of transparency in China’s treatment of a detained Australian democracy blogger when meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing during a trade-focused state visit. Albanese said the detention of Yang Hengjun without conviction for almost five years is one of the topics he expects to raise with Xi. Yang has been detained in China without conviction for almost five years. Albanese was speaking to reporters in the northern Australian city of Darwin on Saturday hours before he was to fly to Shanghai. He arrived in the Chinese trade hub on Saturday afternoon as the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016, signaling an improvement in strained relations.