Dong Yuyu, an experienced Chinese journalist, was given a seven-year sentence for espionage

A Beijing court has condemned Dong Yuyu, a journalist for official media, for espionage and sentenced him to seven years in prison. 

Dong Yuyu, an experienced Chinese journalist and former editor of Guangming Daily, was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to seven years in jail by a Beijing court. His family and supporters of press freedom have denounced the decision, which was handed out on Friday, as a “severe injustice.” 

In February 2022, Dong, 62, was arrested in Beijing while having dinner with a Japanese official. After a brief detention, the diplomat was eventually freed.

In its ruling, the court charged Dong with interacting with people it believed belonged to “espionage organizations,” like as Japan’s embassy in Beijing. 

According to Dong’s family, “Sending Yuyu to seven years in prison on no evidence declares to the world the bankruptcy of the justice system in China.” They cautioned that the decision may make it more difficult for media and regular people to communicate with foreign officials. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for Dong’s immediate release in response to the case’s considerable condemnation. Chinese officials were asked to “reverse this unjust verdict and protect journalists’ rights to work freely and safely,” said Beh Lih Yi, manager of CPJ’s Asia program. 

Dong is renowned for his moderate reformist stances and was named a Harvard University Nieman Fellow in 2007. He promoted social advancements and legal reforms while working for Guangming Daily, a journal connected to the Communist Party, steering clear of direct criticism of President Xi Jinping. 

Until March 2023, when his family announced he would go to trial, the journalist’s arrest and trial were kept under wraps, destroying any expectations that the accusations would be dropped or lessened. 

The punishment coincides with wider worries about how journalists and academics are treated in China. Separately, earlier this year, Australian pro-democracy author Yang Hengjun received a suspended death sentence for spying. 

Dong’s release has been demanded by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and more than 700 scholars, journalists, and NGO employees. Nieman Foundation curator Ann Marie Lipinski called Dong a “talented reporter and author” and wished him well in his family reunion. 

This ruling has increased concerns about the present administration’s targeting of academics in China and the dwindling space for free speech.