Beijing’s High Court rejected on Thursday an appeal by veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu to overturn a seven-year jail term for espionage, his family told Reuters, calling the decision an “act of persecution”.
Arrested in Beijing in February 2022 while lunching with a Japanese diplomat, the respected 62-year-old former Guangming Daily editor and journalist was jailed last November for seven years on espionage charges, reports Reuters.
His son, Dong Yifu, confirmed to Reuters that the court had upheld the original sentence, and had given no reason for its rejection.
The judgment was “illogical and there’s no evidence to satisfy the charges of espionage,” Dong’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told Reuters.
Dong’s wife and a relative attended the hearing. The family, who maintain Dong’s innocence, have challenged some of the evidence presented in court.
A number of Japanese diplomats whom Dong met in China had not been spies as alleged, and had never been expelled from the country, the family said in a statement.
“Even though today’s judgment is final within China’s oppressive legal system, our fight for justice is only beginning,” the family said. “We will seek all other avenues for overturning Yuyu’s wrongful conviction.”
Japan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sentence “threatens all foreigners who interact with Chinese citizens, silences all freethinking Chinese citizens open to interacting with the world, and intentionally chills people-to-people exchange,” they added.
Chinese authorities have previously said they handled the case strictly in line with the law.
The United States has described Dong’s sentencing as “unjust”, and called for his immediate, unconditional release.
Dong regularly had in-person exchanges with diplomats from various embassies and journalists. He was a visiting scholar and visiting professor at Japan’s Keio and Hokkaido universities, as well as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard university in 2007.
“Speaking with diplomats is routine work for journalists, not espionage,” said Beh Lih Yi, an Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“China must release Dong immediately, or it is sending a message to the world that its stated goal of open engagement is empty talk.”
He joined the Communist Party-affiliated Guangming Daily in 1987 after graduating from Peking University law school, and was the deputy editor of its commentary section.
He had written opinion articles in Chinese media and liberal academic journals on topics from legal reforms to social issues, and co-edited a book promoting the rule of law in China. His articles advocated moderate reforms while avoiding direct criticism of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
His family had initially kept news of his detention private in the hope that charges could be reduced or dropped but were notified in March 2023 that his case would be sent to trial, their statement said.
Multiple press freedom non-government organizations (NGO) have called for his release. An online petition for his release has collected over 700 signatures from journalists, academics and NGO workers.
“Dong Yuyu is a talented reporter and author whose work has long been respected by colleagues at home and abroad,” said Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. “We stand with many in hoping for his release and return to his family.”
The Australian writer and pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun was handed a suspended death sentence on espionage charges by a Beijing court in February.
