Embassy staff made a consular visit to Yang in the afternoon, according to a brief statement released by the Australian department of foreign affairs.

“Access to Mr Yang was provided in accordance with our bilateral consular agreement with China,” the statement said.

“Due to Privacy Act obligations, we will not provide further details about Mr Yang or the contents of our consular discussions with Mr Yang.”

The Chinese-Australian author and democracy advocate, whose pen name is Yang Hengjun, was detained shortly after he made a rare return to China from the United States last week.

Beijing state security took “compulsory measures” against Yang, who is suspected of “engaging in criminal activities that endanger China’s national security”, China’s foreign ministry said Thursday.

His detention comes amid heightened tensions between Western countries and an increasingly muscular Beijing, which detained two Canadians last month amid a diplomatic row with Ottawa.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters on Friday that Yang never worked for the foreign ministry, contrary to media reports.

Yang left mainland China for Hong Kong in 1992 and became an Australian in 2000.

According to Yang’s lawyer Mo Shaoping, the Australian national was placed under residential surveillance.