Beijing [China], April 25 (ANI): An ex-senior editor at a significant Chinese each day affiliated with the ruling Communist Party was indicted in March for allegedly leaking data to many Japanese diplomats, sources acquainted with the matter, cited by Kyodo News stated.
61-year-old Dong Yuyu, former deputy head of the Guangming Daily editorial division, went lacking in February final 12 months after assembly with a consultant of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
According to the sources, quoted by Kyodo News, Dong, a liberal commentator, was detained by the police authorities quickly after that assembly on February 21, 2022, and was later arrested. They claimed he was charged with espionage on March 23 however vehemently denied the cost.
China has been harshly prosecuting these purportedly concerned in espionage to guard nationwide safety amid troublesome bilateral relations with Japan.
China detained a prime worker of the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma Inc. final month on accusations of spying, as per Kyodo News.
The Chinese authorities justified its choice to briefly imprison the Japanese diplomat in Beijing who had met with Dong in February 2022 by claiming that the official was partaking in actions that have been “inappropriate” for his place.
At the time, Tokyo requested that Beijing apologise and take steps to stop a repeat, claiming that the act had plainly violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires the internet hosting state to stop any interference with the peace or honour of a diplomatic mission.
The indictment of Dong has drawn the help of greater than 60 folks, together with American journalist Bob Woodward and Tomoko Ako, a professor of China research on the University of Tokyo, who say he may spend greater than ten years in jail for what they contemplate to be “normal contacts with foreigners.”The former senior editor, who shouldn’t be a member of the Communist Party, knew many American and Japanese journalists, lecturers, and diplomats. According to Dong’s household, he obtained fellowships from Harvard University and Keio University and served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, in accordance with Kyodo News.
The present Japanese ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, is a longstanding good friend of Dong, who was welcomed to his house for a Lunar New Year get together in early 2021, the household stated.
The letter said that Dong’s authorized crew has not obtained any proof indicating his acceptance of bribes.
A member of the family stated that Dong was used as a “scapegoat” for the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations and that there was political motivation behind his trial, a report revealed in Kyodo News learn.
A former prime worker of China’s official news company, Xinhua, was given an 18-year jail sentence in 2009 for leaking state secrets and techniques to overseas diplomats, together with Yuji Miyamoto, the Japanese ambassador to China on the time.
According to sources acquainted with the matter, as cited by Kyodo News, Miyamoto gave the previous Xinhua official money amounting to over USD 30,000.
It is customary in China to maintain accusations involving potential threats to nationwide safety beneath wraps and to carry public trials behind closed doorways. In most situations, the specifics will not be made public till after judgements are finalised, Kyodo News reported.(ANI)