A Chinese court sentenced a Japanese national to prison for espionage, in a verdict that threatens to test ties anew between Asia’s two largest economies.
The man, an executive of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc., was handed a jail term of three-and-a-half years, according to the Embassy of Japan in Beijing. The executive was detained in March 2023 and charged with espionage in October of that year.
The sentence comes amid already tense relations between the two countries, which have been hurt by a range of issues, from Chinese military maneuvers to Japan’s release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
READ: China Charges Japanese Executive Detained For Spying
“We have consistently urged the Chinese side for the early release of Japanese nationals through various channels, including at the leader and foreign minister levels,” the Embassy said in a statement. “It is deeply regrettable that a guilty sentence was handed down in this case.”
Beijing had cited the country’s national security for not heeding Tokyo’s call for the man’s release.
A spokesperson for Astellas declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.
The case has alarmed executives in China. Japanese companies are not the only ones whose employees have been taken into custody. An executive and two former employees of WPP Plc, one of the world’s biggest advertising companies, were arrested in China in 2023 in relation to a bribery investigation. Chinese police also took into custody four Taiwanese employees at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Apple Inc.’s main assembly partner last year.
With assistance from Yui Hasebe and James Mayger.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.