WA premier says he raised case of detained Aussies during China trip

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has raised the case of two detained Australians during his visit to China.

Journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun have each been held in custody in China for years.

Cheng, arrested in 2020, has been accused of passing on state secrets.

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Yang has been detained since early 2019, but the reason for his arrest has never been publicly revealed.

McGowan, who visited China for a five-day trip to bolster economic ties with WA earlier this month, said he had a meeting with Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, the ABC reported.

He said he asked the federal government if there was anything he should raise during the "long and productive" encounter.

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"On a couple of occasions, I raised the matters surrounding those people and said it would be in the interests of both countries if the matter could be resolved as soon as possible and if they could be returned to Australia," he said.

Ma said China was aware of the issues, McGowan said.

The premier has been vocal about the need to stabilise relations with Beijing during the recent diplomatic crisis.

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"China is an important trading partner and we want to re-establish ties," McGowan said ahead of his trip.

China is WA's biggest trading partner, with more than half the state's exports going there each year, totalling more than $130 billion.

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