Overnight, China's foreign ministry was busy changing the official transcript of a press conference from 2019.
It was a simple change – removing records claiming Yang Hengjun was a "Chinese" citizen and replacing them with "this".
"With regard to the case you mentioned involving this citizen Yang Jun, we have no new information to provide …," said then-spokesperson Lu Kang in April 2019.
In Mandarin, the terms "China" (Zhong Guo) and "this" (Zhe Ge) are phonetically similar, although the updated transcript doesn't make complete sense.
No longer regarding him as solely a Chinese citizen would conclude almost five years of debate over China's recognition of Yang as Australian.
During that time Yang was denied access to his lawyer and Australian consular support for at least 18 months.
Even though the original press records are still syndicated on state-owned media, the tweak reveals a strong signal about Beijing's changing narrative around the 58-year-old writer's identity.
The update comes after Yang, who once worked for China's Ministry of State Security back in the 1990s, received a suspended death penalty in Beijing on Monday.
All his personal property will soon be confiscated.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was straightforward in her response, saying the government was "appalled".
She summoned the Chinese ambassador, Xiao Qian, though he disclosed nothing to media on Monday.
Here is a bit from an official source: "The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court announced the sentencing for the first instance of the case of Australian defendant Yang Jun, accused of espionage," said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry.
"The people's court heard the trial in strict accordance with the law and ensured that Yang Jun fully exercised his procedural rights."
Despite the grim outlook, the quiet tweak of the press conference language might just be a silver lining for Yang.
He's an Australian citizen, finally
The espionage charges against Yang have been shrouded in secrecy and the case might remain confidential indefinitely.
Despite being an Australian since 2002, China had insisted on seeing Yang as a Chinese national, a stance they've maintained since his 2019 detention.
The change in language, which seems to now no longer recognise him solely as a Chinese citizen, offers a glimmer of hope – it may allow for better consular support, potentially paving the way for an eventual release.
But the possibility of a release similar to Cheng Lei's case remains uncertain, according to lawyers close to the case.
"Judging from how serious the verdict is, he was considered guilty of endangering national security under particularly aggravating circumstances," one lawyer close to the case said.
"It's completely different from the case of Cheng Lei."
We're essentially looking at a race against time as Yang's health deteriorates and as Canberra continue their efforts for his release.
The positive side of a sentence
The gesture of releasing Cheng before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to China in November was interpreted as a positive sign in Australia.
However, Albanese returned without being able to bring Yang back. He confirmed he raised Yang's situation with President Xi Jinping but had nothing more to share.
On the bright side, having a sentence in place now means that Wong and Albanese finally have a clear pathway to negotiate Yang's return.
Without a sentence, Yang would likely remain in indefinite detention.
Yet, like any case linked with espionage, finding a resolution is more about navigating diplomatic landscapes than anything else.
China's approach has sometimes been labelled as hostage diplomacy.
Take the case of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, for instance. These two Canadians were caught up in espionage charges in China but were released shortly after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was let go by Canada in 2021.
The two-year good behaviour reprieve, which was part of Yang's sentence, essentially means Canberra has been given a two-year window to negotiate.
But Beijing might be expecting more than Canberra is able to give.
It knows it's in a position of strength given Australia doesn't have a bargaining chip like Meng.
What now?
Chinese human rights lawyers close to the case have expressed a bleak outlook regarding Yang's prospects for a reduced sentence, which is expected to be decided by May.
The severity of Yang's punishment raises the stakes for Canberra, potentially limiting its capacity to negotiate and possibly compelling it to accept any diplomatic overtures.
However, if Australia-China relations continue on an upward trajectory in the coming months, there may be an opportunity for Yang's situation to take a positive turn.
The flexibility shown by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in updating Yang's identity on their website highlights the changing dynamics of his predicament.
China has shown it has the capability to adjust the storyline as required.