China convicts the 78-year-old US national to life in jail for spying
A Chinese court has condemned a 78-year-old US national to life in prison on spying accusations.
John Shing-Wan Leung, a permanent citizen of Hong Kong, was imprisoned on Monday.
The court in the southeastern area of Suzhou gave no further details of the accusations against him. A press release from the court said that Leung was charged in the town two years back by a local branch of China’s counterintelligence agency.
He “was seen guilty of spying, condemned to life imprisonment [and] deprived of political freedoms for life”, according to the Intermediate People’s Court report shared on the WeChat social media platform.
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It is unclear where Leung was staying at the time of his arrest.
A representative for the US embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the information. “The Department of State has no greater emphasis than the safety and security of US nationals overseas,” they said.
Closed-door trials are expected in China, and few details are usually made public for sensitive issues such as those concerning spying charges. However, heavy punishments such as this are relatively rare for foreign nationals.
A new rule will widen the range of China’s spying legislation in July. It will bar the handing over of any data the authorities consider related to national safety.
Source – BBC
