Han Yang, a former junior diplomat for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Yang’s case, along with the case of journalist Cheng Lei , showed a pattern of the Chinese government holding foreigners of Chinese descent as political prisoners.

“This is certainly very concerning, especially also considering the Chinese legal system is entirely at the whim of the Communist Party,” Han said.

“It’s not independent, it’s not transparent, and any decision made by the court is essentially a decision made by the Chinese political leadership and based on their political interest.”

He believes travellers of Chinese descent are more likely to be detained than those of other ethnicities.