Oberstes Gericht in Peking bestätigt siebenjährige Haftstrafe für chinesischen Journalisten wegen Spionage | NHK WORLD-JAPAN Nachrichten

>A Chinese court has dismissed an appeal by a Chinese journalist who was given a seven-year prison sentence for espionage after meeting with a Japanese Embassy official.

>Sources say the jail term was finalized on Thursday when the high court in Beijing upheld a lower court’s sentencing of Dong Yuyu.

>Dong was the deputy editor of the commentary section of the Guangming Daily newspaper, which is affiliated with the ruling Communist Party.

>He was detained in February 2022 shortly after he met with the Japanese Embassy official in Beijing. Dong was indicted on spying charges and sentenced in November last year.

>In the lower court ruling, the Japanese Embassy officials who had met Dong before were described as agents for a spy organization. The Japanese Foreign Ministry conveyed to the Chinese side that the activities by the country’s diplomats were legitimate.

>For the high court trial, the defense team submitted a letter by Japan’s ambassador to China, Kanasugi Kenji. He rejected the accusation that the Japanese diplomats were agents for a spy organization.

>Dong’s family issued a statement following the rejection of the appeal. It said the ruling „threatens all foreigners who interact with Chinese citizens,“ and „silences all freethinking Chinese citizens open to interacting with the world.“

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No wonder why he was trying to escape to Japan.