A Sydney-based academic held without charge in China has described the conditions of his detention and thanked the Australian Government for assistance in securing his release.
Associate Professor Chongyi Feng was held in China for what Beijing described as national security reasons.
He returned to Sydney on Sunday and said he remains unsure why he was released, but suspects international pressure from the media, government and his university played a role.
While being held in a Guangzhou hotel, Dr Feng faced several rounds of questioning from authorities but was never arrested or charged with an offence.
He told SBS News he was subjected to lie detection tests and around-the-clock interrogations.
“They said: ‘Go back to your place, your room. We will call you when we feel necessary’,” he said.
“And when they called me to come up or down, it was right away. So I really couldn’t move far from the hotel.
“I really don’t know if I do not cooperate what form of action they would take, because these people believe they are above the law.”
Dr Feng believes that pressure applied to Beijing by the Australian government played a major part in his release.
"The ban can last for one month, three months, a year - as long as they please,” he said.
Dr Feng has previously spoken out against China's ruling Communist Party "shutting down speech".
He was in China researching human rights issues and was barred from flying to Australia from Guangzhou with his wife just over a week ago.
Former foreign minister Bob Carr made representations in Beijing and Canberra about Dr Feng's case while the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) appealed to the Chinese Consulate in Sydney to negotiate his release.
In a statement, UTS said it was pleased the matter had been resolved.
Dr Chongyi Feng (L) in Beijing shortly before his arrest, pictured here with a high-profile legal expert. Source: Supplied / Dr Chongyi Feng
"The university will continue to provide care, as his employer, to Dr Feng and his family in relation to his recent experience," it said in a statement.
Dozens of internationally-respected academics from Australia, the United States, Britain and Hong Kong penned an open letter addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li "respectfully requesting" the academic's release.
The letter said they were "disturbed" that a fellow researcher was "prevented from returning to his home and workplace for no reason other than his conscientious work" as a China Studies scholar.
Dr Feng is an Australian permanent resident who retains his Chinese passport.
-- with AAP
