China sentences elderly US citizen to life in prison for espionage

John Shing-Wang Leung, a resident of Hong Kong, was detained on April 15, 2021 by the counter-intelligence department in Suzhou < p>78-year-old citizen The United States, sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court for espionage, has become the latest foreigner to violate the state's strict security laws.

John Shing-Wang Leung, a Hong Kong resident, was sentenced on Monday by the Intermediate People's Court in Suzhou, which announced the results on his official social media account.

The court also confiscated 500,000 yuan (£58,000) worth of personal property. No details of the charges against Mr. Leung, who was first detained on April 15, 2021, have been provided.

The US embassy in Beijing said it «has no higher priority than the safety of US citizens abroad.» but did not comment further due to privacy concerns.

Chris Tan Ping-keung, Hong Kong's security minister, said on Monday that the government had been informed of Mr. Leung's arrest in 2021.

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The South Morning China Post reported that a 2004 article in the state-run People's Daily described a man believed to be Mr. Leung as a U.S.-based businessman with close ties to government officials. persons of both countries.

It said that Mr. Leung established relations between Oklahoma City and the Chinese city of Guangzhou in 1985, and he «strongly promoted and started Sino-American trade and cultural exchanges, and repeatedly invited and arranged visits for U.S. local government officials and foreign businessmen to China for investment.”

Deep-reaching espionage laws

It comes weeks before China is about to expand its already far-reaching spying laws, which it fears will increase the risk to foreign nationals. The move expands the definition of espionage to include any «documents, data, materials or items related to national security and interests» that some foreign companies believe could make them vulnerable to charges.

Several foreign nationals have been arrested in recent years in connection with the growing crackdown on espionage. Chinese-Australian Cheng Lei, who worked for China's state broadcaster, and writer Yang Jun are in detention from 2020 to 2019.

A Japanese employee of the pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma was arrested in March. suspicion of espionage, becoming the 17th Japanese citizen to be detained in China since 2014.

Mr. Leung's verdict came amid ever-escalating tensions between the two countries. In February, the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that Beijing claims was a weather monitoring device.