On espionage allegations, China convicts an elderly US man to life in jail.

John Shing-Wan Leung, a 78-year-old American citizen and Hong Kong permanent resident, has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on spying charges. The Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, convicted Leung of espionage and gave him a life sentence Monday. Leung was detained on April 15, 2021 by state security authorities in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and the court confiscated personal property worth 500,000 yuan ($71,797). The US Embassy in Beijing said it was aware of reports of Leung’s sentencing and the US State Department said it seeks to provide “all appropriate assistance” when a US citizen is detained abroad. The sentencing of Leung comes at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in half a century due to intensifying rivalry over trade, technology, geopolitics and military supremacy.

American and Chinese officials are resuming high-level engagements since a dispute over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shattered efforts to men The US State Department has designated three Americans publicly known to be imprisoned in China as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. Leung is among a growing number of foreign nationals to have been ensnared in China’s widening crackdown on espionage under leader Xi Jinping. In March, Chinese authorities detained a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma in Beijing on suspected espionage. Two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – were detained by China for nearly three years. Last month, China passed a wide-ranging amendment to its already sweeping counter-espionage law, which will take effect from July 1. The new legislation expanded the definition of espionage from covering state secrets and intelligence to any “documents, data, materials or items related to national security and interests,” and to include cyberattacks against state organs or critical information infrastructure.