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IIn 2022, Dong Yuyu had lunch with a Japanese diplomat in a Beijing hotel. For a 63-year-old reporter in charge of foreign affairs, this was a relatively ordinary meeting.
That day also changed his life, however, when police swooped into the restaurant and took him away for questioning. He was arrested and charged with espionage, and was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison.
Dong’s case has attracted international attention and is seen as an example of China tightening its grip on an already compliant media landscape.
Dong’s family still held out hope for the system in which their father had worked dutifully throughout his career until last month, when the Beijing High Court rejected an appeal to overturn his sentence. His family said the case was clear “Acts of persecution”.
The reporter’s son Dong Yifu told reporters independent His father’s conviction sets a dangerous precedent, as Chinese citizens may now be scrutinized simply for maintaining international relations. Both Dong and Dong Yifu said the reporter’s meeting with Japanese diplomats had nothing to do with espionage.
Yifu Dong called on US, British and European governments to step up engagement with Beijing and for sustained diplomatic pressure at the highest levels to secure his father’s release.
“Anyone with the most basic senses knows this whole thing is completely ridiculous,” Dong Yifu said. “The government here really owes everyone, including the Chinese people, an explanation,” he said.
Dong missed a lot while incarcerated, including news of his father’s death and rising diplomatic tensions between neighboring Japan and China.
Dong Yifu said the family decided to keep the news of Dong’s father’s death secret from reporters to avoid demoralizing him. “In communications with his attorney, he said he hoped his parents would remain strong and that he would be able to see them again.”
“There are many other families torn apart by this persecution,” he added.
Dong’s denial of bail comes at a time when relations between neighboring countries China and Japan are already strained. dropped to its lowest level in decades The Prime Minister of Japan made remarks on the Taiwan issue. Sanae Takaichi warned last month that Tokyo could react to any military actions by China against Taiwan that also threaten Japan’s security. China responded quickly and directly to the remarks, with both sides escalating tensions through diplomatic channels.
China claims Taiwan is governed by democracy and has stepped up military and political pressure on the island, while the Taiwanese government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims.
The verdict by the Beijing High Court drew sharp criticism from human rights and press freedom groups, who said it undermined what was left of free speech in China, where the country under Xi Jinping has jailed dozens of journalists.
“Talking to diplomats is a daily job for journalists, not espionage,” said Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “China must release Dong immediately or send a message to the world that its goal of public engagement is empty talk.”
Amnesty International found in an October report that Chinese courts have been systematically weaponizing vague national security and public order laws to silence human rights defenders.
Mr. Dong once served as deputy director of the Commentary Department of China Central Radio and Television. Guangming DailyThe newspaper was once considered more liberal than other Communist outlets. Dong joined the newspaper in 1987 and over the past 35 years he has frequently published articles advocating for constitutional democracy, political reform and official accountability. These views were once discussed openly in party media but have now fallen out of favor – but his family say he was not a dissident or revolutionary. He also co-edited a book promoting the rule of law in China.
Although China has the largest prison population of journalists in the world, with at least 120 imprisoned, Dong’s arrest sent shockwaves across the country because Beijing rarely targets employees of state-owned media.
Dong Yifu said that under Xi Jinping’s leadership over the past decade, the space for independent expression, even within a one-party system, has been continuously eroded. “These were very moderate, very moderate calls for reform. Now, even those moderate, moderate voices have been silenced,” he said, referring to his father.
Human rights activists accuse Xi Jinping of intensifying a crackdown on dissent over the past 13 years.
Dong’s family expressed concerns about the journalist’s health at the Beijing National Security Detention Center, where he was held for more than three years before being transferred to Beijing No. 2 Prison, a correctional facility that houses several international prisoners.
“The prison he’s been in for the last three years has very little sunlight, very little natural light. So it’s taking a toll on his health. From what we know, the food isn’t very good, so nutrition is a big issue for us. And for a detainee, he’s quite old,” his son said.
Dong Yifu said he has been unable to talk to his father since the day of his arrest, and his family now relies on monthly updates from his lawyer.
After his arrest in February 2022, Dong was held in an undisclosed location for half a year before being formally charged with espionage. Like all cases that China considers to be related to national security, Dong’s trial was held behind closed doors in July 2023, with police barring reporters from entering the courtroom on the day of the sentencing. An American diplomat who tried to observe the proceedings was also denied entry.
“He was only two months away from retirement when he was arrested,” the journalist’s son said.
American lawyer Dong Yifu said that he had a video call with his parents just one day before learning about his father’s arrest. “Five security officers broke into our apartment and searched the entire house,” he said, adding that the experience left his mother shaken.
Dong Yifu said that despite providing sufficient evidence to prove his innocence, the court rejected Dong’s appeal. “We received a letter from the current [Japanese] The ambassador to China said their diplomat named in the verdict was not a spy and we were able to submit it to the court as new evidence. But the court rejected this, which is very worrying. “
Dong’s family said Japanese diplomats Dong met with, including then-ambassador Hideo Tarumi and current consul general in Shanghai Masaru Okada, were classified as agents of a “spy organization,” the court said. But Dong Yifu said the Chinese government has never taken action against or expelled Japanese diplomats deemed spies.
The family argued that prosecutors failed to establish Dong’s motive or provide any evidence that Dong received financial rewards for his alleged espionage activities. National security officials argued that his overseas academic fellowships, including a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and several short-term projects in Japan, constituted “benefits.”
“This line of reasoning is ridiculous and extremely threatening,” the family said in a statement. “Now, all the hundreds of thousands of Chinese scholars and intellectuals who have visited foreign universities in the past few years can use their experiences abroad as evidence of espionage in Chinese courts.”
Ann Marie Lipinski, director of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, called Dong “a talented journalist and writer whose work has long been respected by his colleagues.” “We stand with the many people who want him to be released and returned to his family,” she said at the sentencing.
Mr. Dong often communicates face-to-face with diplomats and journalists from various embassies. He once served as a visiting scholar and visiting professor at Keio University and Hokkaido University in Japan.
In recent years, Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on Japanese citizens accused of espionage. This year, it handed down sentences against a Japanese citizen detained in Shanghai in December 2021 and another employee of pharmaceutical giant Astellas Pharma.
China’s counterintelligence agency said last month it had uncovered a number of infiltration and espionage cases linked to Japanese intelligence agencies in recent years and vowed to step up counterintelligence efforts. The national security department warned that it “firmly opposes any despicable acts by foreign forces that undermine regional peace and stability.”
According to Japanese media reports, a total of 17 Japanese have been detained since China introduced a new counterespionage law in 2014.
Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in November last year: “China’s judicial organs handle cases strictly in accordance with the law, and those who violate the law and commit crimes will be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law.”
independent Letters have been sent to the Chinese government and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The United States called Dong’s sentence “unjust” and publicly called for his immediate and unconditional release. The family hopes this will translate into meaningful behind-the-scenes action as well.
“I think the State Department is aware of this case and our family hopes they will mention it,” Dong Yifu said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists last month awarded Dong its annual International Press Freedom Award. “In the past few decades, I have used my pen to comment on social issues in China. My imprisonment now itself is a comment on the reality of press freedom and freedom of speech in China today,” Dong said in a statement issued through his lawyer.
“This award is a great encouragement to me and a much-needed boost of courage and strength in this difficult situation.”