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November 29, 2024November 28, 2024 – China –
In a closed-door trial on November 29, 2024, veteran Chinese journalist and former Guangming Daily editor Dong Yuyu was sentenced to seven years in prison on dubious espionage charges linked to meetings with Japanese diplomats.
Dong, 62, was detained in February 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat and kept in prolonged secret custody. Authorities did not publicly charge him until March 2023, accusing him of passing intelligence via his “suspicious” meetings, without presenting any substantive evidence.
A prominent commentator and moderate voice within state media, Dong advocated for reform and the rule of law. He contributed to major Chinese and foreign outlets, earned a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard (2006–07), and served as a visiting fellow and professor in Japan. His meetings with Japanese diplomats were typical journalistic practice, widely criticized as legitimate exchanges by colleagues and foreign governments.
Press freedom advocates have denounced the conviction as a travesty. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated that “interacting with diplomats is part of a journalist’s job” and called for Dong’s immediate release. The U.S. State Department and U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns also condemned the verdict as “unjust,” warning of its chilling effect. Reporters Without Borders described the case as emblematic of a shrinking space for free thought in China, which already holds 44 journalists in jail.
Dong’s family revealed that court documents labeled the Japanese diplomats he met as “agents of an espionage organisation,” and that his sentencing occurred without sharing the written verdict, despite international norms
Reference –
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/28/china/china-dong-yuyu-sentence-espionage-intl-hnk/index.html