China sentences a US citizen to life for espionage
A Chinese court said on Monday it sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on unspecified espionage charges, the latest in a spate of espionage cases authorities have pursued amid growing distrust of foreign influence in the country.
That said the Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou in a brief summary rack that it found John Shing-Wan Leung guilty of espionage and sentenced him. It said Mr Leung was arrested by state security officials in April 2021, but did not provide details of the allegations or the circumstances of his detention or trial. The court also ordered that approximately $70,000 worth of his personal effects be seized.
Mr. Leung holds a US passport and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, according to the statement posted on the court’s social media account.
The court in Suzhou did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesman for the US embassy in Beijing said the embassy was aware of the reports on the case but declined to comment due to privacy concerns. US citizens arrested in China are required to sign a privacy statement allowing embassies and consulates to release information about their affairs to the public.
Trials in China on charges of espionage or other sensitive political issues are often shrouded in secrecy, with proceedings closed to the public and the news media. Courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party.
China has recently stepped up action against what it sees as a growing threat from spies through a wave of raids, inspections and arrests targeting foreign-linked companies and individuals alike.
In March, Beijing locked up a Japanese businessman of a pharmaceutical company for espionage. Last year the authorities arrested a senior editor of a Chinese Communist Party newspaper while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat, accusing the editor of acting as an agent for Japan or the United States, his family says.
Chinese officials have raided the offices or questioned the staff of US consulting firms Mintz group And Bain & Company. Most recently, state media announced a crackdown on the consulting industry in the name of national security Capvision Partners, a consulting firm with offices in New York and Shanghai. In describing the crackdown, China’s state broadcaster CCTV accused Western countries of stealing intelligence in key industries, including defence, finance, energy and health, as part of a “strategy of containment and suppression against China”.
Last month, China approved revisions to a counterintelligence law that expanded the kind of activities that could put foreigners behind bars. Experts say the changes, which will take effect in July, could criminalize a range of mundane information-gathering tasks, such as the work of journalists and due diligence on companies. Foreign companies have already started review their operation in China and increase worker protection.