Editing TIMELINE-Australian Writer Faces Espionage Trial In China

<br>SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters) - An Australian writer detained in Beijing and facing trial for espionage is a former Chinese spy, according to a confidential letter he wrote in 2011.<br> <br>Following are key points in the history of Yang Hengjun's work and the case against him.<br> <br>1987: Yang works in Hainan province national security office, two years after graduating from university in Shanghai.<br>Hainan is near the strategic South China Sea. He later moves to the Ministry of State Security, according to his letter.<br> <br>1992:  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/du-lich-trung-quoc-gia-re/ tour trung quốc] Yang wrote that he worked for MSS in Hong Kong under the cover of a travel service.<br> <br>1997: Yang wrote that he worked for MSS in Washington under the cover of a researcher.<br> <br>1999: Yang leaves the MSS and migrates to Australia with his family, according to his friend, Sydney-based liberal scholar Feng Chongyi.<br> <br>2000-2004: Yang writes three spy novels about a double agent, which are [http://www.reddit.com/r/howto/search?q=published published] in Taiwan.<br> <br>2002: Yang becomes an Australian citizen<br> <br>2005-2006:  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/du-lich-trung-quoc-gia-re/ kynghidongduong.vn] Completes a PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney, about emerging liberal voices in China blogging about democracy.<br><br>Yang starts his own blog and gains a large following.<br> <br>2011: Detained in Guangzhou by police on suspicion of instigating the Jasmine Revolution. Yang is released after three days.<br> <br>2012: Yang returns to Hong Kong to work for  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/du-lich-trung-quoc-gia-re/ tour trung quoc] the Tianda Institute, a think-tank funded by an Australian Chinese businessman.<br> <br>2017: Yang works as a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, earning income as a "daigou" or online sales agent selling products.<br> <br>2019: Yang is arrested in January entering China at Guangzhou airport with his wife and her child.<br> <br>September 2020: Yang´s Beijing lawyers granted first access to him in detention.<br> <br>October 2020: Yang is charged with espionage.<br><br>Beijing´s Second Intermediate People´s Court accepts case and appoints a judge. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham Editing by Lincoln Feast)<br>