Japanese Businessman in China Gets 3½ Years' Jail Term for Spying

A court in China sentenced a Japanese businessman to 3½ years in prison on July 16 for spying, Tokyo's ambassador in Beijing said.

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BEIJING –

The man, an employee of 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", Mr Kenji Kanasugi, Japan's ambassador to China, told Japanese media after the trial in Beijing.

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

A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said China's judicial organs "handle cases in strict accordance with the law".