China lodges protests at Australia’s response to Taiwan’s presidential election

Ambassador says there is ‘no room at all’ for compromise on ‘sensitive’ issue, and offers gloomy assessment on prospects for release of writer Dr Yang Hengjun

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China has lodged diplomatic protests with Australia for congratulating the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, with the Chinese ambassador warning there is “no room at all” for compromise on the “sensitive” issue.

China’s top envoy in Australia, Xiao Qian, also dashed hopes that the Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun might be released from custody in a similar manner to the Australian journalist Cheng Lei last year.

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