Chinese Court Sentences 78-Year-Old US Citizen to Life on Spying Charges

John Shing-Wan Leung, a 78-year-old US citizen and permanent resident of Hong Kong, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court on charges of espionage, BBC reported on Monday.

The court in Suzhou, southeastern China, provided no further details regarding the specific allegations against him, the report added.

Leung was arrested two years ago in the city by a local bureau of China’s counterintelligence agency.

The Intermediate People’s Court, in a statement posted on the WeChat social media platform, declared Leung guilty of espionage and sentenced him to life in prison, along with a lifetime deprivation of political rights.

The location of Leung’s residence at the time of his arrest remains unclear.

According to BBC, The US embassy in Beijing acknowledged the reports, emphasizing the safety and security of US citizens abroad as a top priority for the Department of State.

According to US and Chinese media reports, as well as public records, Leung had significant involvement with Chinese cultural and expatriate organizations in the US.

He was reportedly associated with the Texas branch of the Association for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China (APPRC), which supports Beijing’s claims over Taiwan internationally.

Leung also chaired the Leung Cultural Exchange Foundation and frequently traveled to China to meet with government officials.

The report further said that closed-door trials and limited public disclosure are common in China, particularly for sensitive cases involving espionage charges.

While heavy sentences like this are rare for foreign citizens, they may further strain the already tense relationship between China and the US.

The two nations have been at odds on various issues, including Taiwan, the militarization of the South China Sea, the origins of Covid, and the recent shooting down of a Chinese balloon claimed to be a weather monitoring device by the US.