Chinese court jails Japanese executive in spying case

Japan Times

3 days ago

A Chinese court sentenced a Japanese citizen to a prison term for espionage, Nippon TV reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified Japanese government official, in a verdict that threatens to damage ties between Asia's two largest economies.
The Nikkei newspaper said the jail term was three-and-a-half years.
The convicted man, an executive of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma, was detained in March 2023 and charged with espionage in October of that year.
The sentence threatens to further strain already tense relations between the two countries, which have been hurt by a range of issues, from Chinese military maneuvers to Japan's release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
Tokyo had sought the man's release, but Beijing has stood its ground citing the country's national security.
The case has alarmed executives in China. Japanese companies are not the only ones whose employees have been taken into custody. An executive and two former employees of WPP, one of the world's biggest advertising companies, were arrested in China in 2023 in relation to a bribery investigation. Chinese police also took into custody four Taiwanese employees at Hon Hai Precision Industry, Apple's main assembly partner, last year.
A spokesperson for Astellas declined to comment when contacted. No one was available to comment at Japan's Foreign Ministry.