Beijing. China on Monday sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life imprisonment on charges of espionage.
John Shig-wan Leung, who holds permanent resident status in Hong Kong, was detained by the local bureau of China’s counter-intelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou on April 15, 2021. A city court announced Leung’s sentence in a brief statement on its social media website but gave no details of the charges. Such investigations and trials are conducted behind closed doors and little is publicly disclosed. Is.
Ties between the US and China are at a historic low due to Beijing’s growing aggressiveness over trade, technology, human rights and territorial claims, including self-ruled Taiwan and the South China Sea. Amid mixed reactions from China, high-level government-to-government talks between the two countries Travel has ground to a halt and American companies are postponing major investments. The sentence comes as US President Joe Biden visits Hiroshima, Japan, to attend the G-7 summit, a group of seven major industrialized nations. Are.
He will then travel to Papua New Guinea, a Pacific island nation where China is seeking to expand its economic, military and diplomatic influence. The US embassy in Beijing said it was aware of the matter but could not comment due to privacy concerns. “The State Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens abroad,” said an emailed statement from the embassy. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese control in 1997. The Hong Kong government, however, did not make an immediate statement on Leung.
Inputs From: The Business Standard (Hindi)
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