China jails Japanese nat'l for espionage

A court in China sentenced a Japanese businessman to three-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday for spying, Tokyo’s ambassador in Beijing said.

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The man, an employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas, was detained in March 2023 and placed under formal arrest in October.

He was “sentenced to three years and six months in prison for espionage activities”, Kenji Kanasugi, Japanese ambassador to China, told Japanese media after the trial in Beijing.

“It is extremely regrettable that such a guilty verdict was issued,” he said.