Australian consular officials have in recent days spoken with two nationals detained in China and Myanmar, a senior diplomat said on Thursday.
Consular officials have spoken with Cheng Lei, who was detained in China in September 2020 on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, and Sean Turnell, an economist detained in Myanmar in February, said Frances Adamson, Secretary of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Adamson said Australian officials were also set on Thursday to speak to Yang Hengjun, detained by Chinese authorities in January 2019 and set to face trail in Beijing on an espionage charge.
The detention of the two Australians citizens in China has come during fractious relations between Canberra and Beijing.
Already frayed by Australia's decision to ban Huawei from its 5G network, relations deteriorated this year as Canberra led calls for an international inquiry into the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Kim Coghill)
