US citizen based in Hong Kong has been sentenced to LIFE in prison and ‘deprived of his political rights for life’ in China for alleged espionage
- China has sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on espionage charges
- John Shing-Wan Leung had permanent residence in Hong Kong
China has sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on espionage charges.
John Shing-Wan Leung, who resides permanently in Hong Kong, was arrested on April 15, 2021 by the National Security Bureau in Suzhou, China.
The city’s intermediate court announced that Leung had been “found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life.”
The elderly US citizen also had his personal belongings of 500,000 yuan – about $72,000 – seized.
Chinese officials have not specified what they believed Leung had done and such trials are held behind closed doors with little or no information being made public.
On Monday, China sentenced 78-year-old US citizen John Shing-Wan Leung to life in prison on espionage charges after he was arrested in April 2021
The older man’s sentencing comes as China and the US continue to follow a rocky path
Relations between Washington and Beijing have reached an all-time low in recent years.
The relationship has led to major disputes over trade, technology, human rights and China’s increasingly aggressive approach to its territorial claims.
The sentencing comes as US President Joe Biden travels to Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven Major Industrialized Nations Summit.
That visit will be followed by a stopover in Papua New Guinea, a Pacific island nation in a region where China has sought to increase its economic, military and diplomatic influence.
The city’s intermediary court announced that Leung had been “found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life”
While the Suzhou court gave no indication of any connection to overall China-US relations, the espionage allegations are highly selective and no evidence is released to substantiate them.
That’s standard in most countries that want to secure their personal connections, networks and access to information.
However, China’s authoritarian political system and the ruling Communist Party’s absolute control over legal affairs, civil society and freedom of information prevent demands for further information, as well as appeals.