A prominent Chinese journalist was convicted in a court in Beijing according to his family, up to seven years in prison for espionage.
Dong Yuyu, a commentator and editor, was arrested by police in February 2022 while meeting a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant. The associated press, and has been in police custody ever since.
Friday’s ruling named then-Japanese Ambassador Hideo Tarumi and Shanghai-based chief diplomat Masaru Okada as agents of a spy organization, Dong’s family said.
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Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu stands at the gate of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in May 2017. (Dong family via AP)
Dong was deputy editorial director of Guangming Daily, a state-owned newspaper in China. He also contributed to the Chinese edition of the New York Times.
His published work includes his support for constitutional democracy and political reform, which was later deemed contrary to the position of the Chinese Communist Party.
Dong had contacts with foreign diplomats, scientists and other journalists during his decades-long career as a journalist. He also considered Tarumi a friend.
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Dong Yuyu, a commentator and editor, was arrested by police in February 2022 while meeting a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant. (iStock)
His family said he knew he was always being watched by state security, so he wanted to be as open as possible when meeting with his Japanese or American contacts.
“With Yuyu’s belief, every Chinese citizen, when dealing with the Japanese embassy – or perhaps any other foreign embassy and diplomat for that matter – is expected to know that the Chinese government may consider these embassies as ‘spy organizations’ ,” the family said in a statement. a statement. “Any sensible Chinese citizen should be shocked by this reasoning.”
Dong had contacts with foreign diplomats, scientists and other journalists during his decades-long career as a journalist. (iStock)
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The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, was critical Dong’s conviction.
“Punishing Dong for exercising his freedom of speech and press, guaranteed to all its citizens by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, is unjust,” Burns said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
