Canberra: China's delay in dealing with espionage allegations against Chinese-Australian Yang Hengjun has "deeply troubled" his government, according to Australia's foreign minister. However, one supporter predicted that Yang Hengjun would not be released until at least April.

When Yang arrived in southern China's Guangzhou from New York in 2019 with his wife and 14-year-old stepdaughter, Yang's detention was lifted by Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Yang awaits the outcome of his trial, which closes in May 2021 in Beijing on charges of espionage.

According to a statement from Wong, the ongoing delay in his case is extremely troubling to the Australian government. He said the 57-year-old's interests and well-being would continue to be represented in Australia "at the highest levels".

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Yang's supporter Feng Chongyi, who lives in Sydney, confirmed a report in Australian Fairfax Media publication newspapers that the case would not be resolved before April.

According to Feng, the court has just received the seventh three-month extension to finish the case. According to Feng, the newly-elected Australian government should push to resolve Yang's case before moving forward with efforts to improve strained bilateral relations with China. Feng hoped that the Yang Hengjun issue would be resolved before they normalized trade relations.

"That is my hope and my wish. However, I am not so sure that they will not succumb to Chinese pressure and business interests," he continued.

Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist of Chinese descent whom China accuses of leaking state secrets, will also have to wait until April for any developments in his case, according to Fairfax.

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Since August 2019, the 47-year-old reporter for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, has been imprisoned in China. According to Feng, the extension of both cases till April is just a coincidence.

He claimed that the two cases were not related. Nick Coyle, Cheng's business partner, told Fairfax that "the continued delays are frustrating." The AP's request for comment from Coyle did not immediately elicit a response.

Both dual-citizen convicts believe they will be deported to Australia following their conviction and sentence. Since the previous Australian government was voted out of power in May after serving for nine years, there are signs that relations between the two countries have improved.

Wong, the first Australian foreign minister to visit China in four years, raised Yang and Cheng's cases with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last month.

His issues were also raised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while attending the first official bilateral meeting between a senior Australian government official and Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2016.

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Feng claimed China had executed Yang as "revenge" against the previous Australian administration for outlawing covert foreign interference in domestic affairs and preventing Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from deploying Australia's 5G network due to security concerns. detained as such.