Convicted Guilty of Espionage Activities, US Citizen Sentenced to Life in Prison by Chinese Court

JAKARTA - A 78-year-old US citizen living in Hong Kong was convicted on espionage charges on Monday, sentenced to life in prison by a court in eastern China, a court statement said.

In addition, the man named John Shing-wan Leung was also deprived of his political rights, after a brief trial on Monday, the Suzhou Intermediate Court said in a statement.

The court said Leung was a resident of Hong Kong and held a US passport.

The court did not give details of his alleged offenses, but said: "The Suzhou National Security Bureau started investigating Leung on April 15, 2021, on suspicion of espionage," Reuters reported on May 16.

Hong Kong media and Chinese media reported that Leung had been a senior member of a Chinese patriotic group in the United States called the US-China Friendship Promotion Association. Photographs of Leung with several senior Chinese officials were published.

Leung was also named in an article published on the website of the US-China Friendship Association, another pro-China group, which voiced support for the Hong Kong national security law that China imposed on the financial center in 2020 to restore stability after pro-protest-democracy.

The Hong Kong Security Bureau did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Leung.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US Embassy said in an emailed statement they were aware of the case, but were unable to provide further comment due to privacy considerations.

"The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas," the spokesperson added.

The sentences came amid rising tensions between China and the US on a number of fronts, from accusations of Chinese espionage to human rights abuses, to US efforts to build a military alliance to curb China's ambitions in Taiwan and in the Pacific.

It is known, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi last week, to try to open lines of communication and stabilize relations between the two superpowers.