China sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on Monday on espionage charges, amid renewed tensions between Beijing and Washington.
John Shing-Wan Leung, who has a permanent residence in Hong Kong, was arrested on April 15, 2021 by China’s counterintelligence agency, in the city of Suzhou, next to Shanghai, in the southeast of the country.
The city’s intermediate court announced Leung’s sentence in a brief statement, but did not give details of the charges. The court also ordered the seizure of Leung’s personal assets, worth 500,000 yuan (66,000 euros).
Trials in cases related to national security are held behind closed doors and little or no information is made public.
Relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated rapidly in recent years, due to a trade and technology war, as well as disputes over human rights, the status of Hong Kong and Taiwan, or sovereignty over the South China Sea.
In recent months, tensions have been renewed over issues such as the downing of a Chinese balloon on US territory, allegedly used for espionage purposes, Beijing’s position on the war in Ukraine and the possible US ban on the application. video TikTok, developed by the Chinese company ByteDance.
The sentence comes at a time when US President Joe Biden travels to Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in the G7 summit, after having paid a visit to Papua New Guinea. China has sought to increase its military, diplomatic and economic influence in the Pacific island nation.
The Suzhou court did not indicate any link between the verdict and Sino-US tensions, and the evidence supporting the espionage charges is not made public. This is standard practice among most countries that want to protect their networks and access to information.
However, China’s authoritarian political system and the Communist Party’s absolute control over legal affairs, civil society and freedom of information block any demand for more information or judicial remedies.
China amended its Counter-Espionage Law in April to include the offense of “collaboration with spy agencies and their agents.”
The National People’s Congress, China’s highest legislative body, explained that the reform “adheres to a problem-solving approach” and that it “expands” the categories of content whose disclosure and access is classified as “theft of state secrets.” .
In recent months, Beijing has also launched investigations into foreign consultants in the country, raising concerns in the industry and among foreign investors.
Source: TSF
