A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu on Friday to seven years in prison for espionage, his family said in a statement, calling the verdict a grave injustice.
Police in the Chinese capital detained the 62-year-old former Guangming Daily editor and journalist in February 2022 while he was lunching with a Japanese diplomat, the U.S. National Press Club said in a statement. He was later charged with espionage.
"Sentencing Yuyu to seven years in prison on no evidence declares to the world the bankruptcy of the justice system in China," Dong's family said in a statement provided to Reuters.
"Today's verdict is a grave injustice not only to Yuyu and his family but also to every freethinking Chinese journalist and every ordinary Chinese committed to friendly engagement with the world."
The family added that in the court judgment, Japanese diplomats whom Dong met were "specifically named as agents of an 'espionage organization,' which is the Japanese embassy in Beijing".
Dong's conviction implied every Chinese citizen would be "expected to know that the Chinese government may consider those embassies to be 'espionage organizations'", it said, causing a chilling effect.
Police guarded the court on Friday, with seven police cars parked nearby, and journalists were asked to leave the area. A U.S. diplomat said they had been barred from attending the hearing.
Dong has been detained in a Beijing prison since a closed-court hearing in July 2023, the press club said in September.
"Chinese authorities must reverse this unjust verdict, and protect the right of journalists to work freely and safely in China," said Beh Lih Yi, Asia program manager at the Committee to Protect Journalists. "Dong Yuyu should be reunited with his family immediately."
Dong regularly had in-person exchanges with diplomats from various embassies and journalists.
The Japanese diplomat he met, one of two he had regularly met in the past, was also detained for several hours, spurring a complaint from Japan's foreign ministry.
At the time, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the diplomat was engaged in activities "inconsistent with their capacity" in China. The diplomat was later released.
A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2007, Dong was a visiting scholar and visiting professor at Keio University and Hokkaido University in Japan, his family said in a statement in April 2023.
He joined the Guangming Daily, affiliated to the ruling Communist Party, in 1987, after graduating from Peking University law school, and was the deputy editor of its commentary section.
He wrote opinion articles in Chinese media and liberal academic journals on topics from legal reforms to social issues, and co-edited a book promoting the rule of law in China.
His articles advocated moderate reforms while avoiding direct criticism of President Xi Jinping.
His family had initially kept news of his detention private in the hope that charges could be reduced or dropped, but were told in March 2023 that he would stand trial, they said in their statement.
Non-government bodies (NGOs) advocating press freedom have called for his release, with more than 700 journalists, academics and NGO workers signing an online petition for him to be freed.
"Dong Yuyu is a talented reporter and author whose work has long been respected by colleagues," said Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
"We stand with many in hoping for his release and return to his family."
In February, a Beijing court handed a suspended death sentence to Australian writer and pro-democracy blogger, Yang Hengjun, on espionage charges.
© Thomson Reuters 2024.
7 Comments
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justasking
China is sinking financially, tourism is down, factories are falling and news like this just puts another nail in their coffin.
Ricky Kaminski13
Very sad to hear another piece of proof that the CCP is willing to shut down , arrest ( 7 years! ) those well educated citizens that could actually play a role in finding a way to get off the dark trajectory of a system that could send the whole world to hell if left unchecked.
uaintseeme
Chinese citizens who leave China for work and are thinking about returning for whatever reason should seriously reconsider.
BigP
China is its own worst enemy.
Fighto!
That's called freedom of speech and freedom of association in Communist China.
Despicable nation ruled by despicable people. The day that Xi and all CCP rulers, public servants and judiciary are put against a wall will be a glorious one.
Ricky Kaminski13
Fighto, they are building their own skynetto make sure that never happens unfortunately.
Desert Tortoise
No, just the CCP. Xi Jinping's fixation on absolute central control of all aspects of everything that happens in China will be the CCPs downfall. The country is just too big and diverse for that to work. A federal system is what China needs but Xi Jinping is a Maoist true believer. He will have to be deposed or die before things will improve in China.