A Chinese court on Friday sentenced Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison on charges of espionage. File photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA-EFE
Nov. 29 (UPI) — A Beijing court has sentenced Dong Yuyu, a former journalist for a Chinese state-run newspaper, to seven years in prison on charges of espionage, his family said Friday.
Dong, 62, a deputy editor and columnist for Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 while meeting Japanese diplomats, including then-ambassador Hideo Tarumi, at a Beijing hotel. He was subsequently held incommunicado for six months.
Although his trial finished in July of 2023, the verdict was repeatedly delayed until it was read in a court on Friday.
In a statement on Friday, his family said the verdict claimed the Japanese diplomats Dong met the day he was arrested were agents of an “espionage organization,” specifically identifying the Japanese embassy in Beijing.
“We are shocked that the Chinese authorities would blatantly deem a foreign embassy as an ‘espionage organization’ and accuse the former Japanese ambassador and his fellow diplomats of being spies,” Dong’s family said.
“Every sensible Chinese citizen should be appalled by this reasoning. So should every foreigner who wishes to meaningfully engage with China and its people.”
The statement said Dong was sentenced “on no evidence” for a crime “that requires that the prosecution prove that the defendant knowingly acted on behalf of ‘espionage organizations’ and their agents.”
“Yuyu is being persecuted for the independence he has demonstrated during a lifetime spent as a journalist,” his family said. “Yuyu is also being targeted for his principled engagement with the outside world.”
The family further warned that Friday’s verdict puts thousands of Chinese scholars and professionals who interact with the international community at risk. Any fellowship could be grounds for arrest and evidence of violating national security laws, they said.
“Yuyu’s yearslong detention has already had a chilling effect on Sino-Japanese ties, and his verdict today could irrevocably damage relations at the highest level,” they continued.
“Yuyu’s conviction effectively marks the end of ‘people-to-people diplomacy,’ a method of engagement the Chinese authorities have always claimed to champion.”
The verdict is expected to attract condemnation from democratic nations and free speech organizations.
The Committee to Protect Journalist issued a brief statement Friday criticizing the ruling.
“The verdict is a travesty of justice and Dong Yuyu must be reunited with his family immediately,” it said on X.