A Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma in his 60s, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for espionage in China on Wednesday, has no intention to appeal the ruling for now, informed sources said Saturday.
As China uses a two-tier court system, those who are dissatisfied with the first ruling can appeal to a higher court.
In the Astellas employee's case, his sentence will be finalized if he does not file an appeal by the deadline in late July.
A Beijing district court that imposed the prison sentence on the employee is believed to have found him guilty of espionage for providing information about Chinese politics and the economy to an intelligence agency.
Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi and other Japanese Embassy officials were allowed to observe Wednesday's sentencing session. Kanasugi said that the sentence was "extremely regrettable," but he did not provide details of the ruling presented in court.
The employee was detained by Chinese authorities in March 2023, when he was about to leave China after completing his assignment. He was indicted in August 2024.
The administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which places importance on national security, established an anti-espionage law in 2014 to enhance the detection of spies. Since then, 17 Japanese nationals have been detained for alleged espionage activities, including five who are still in custody. The Japanese government will continue to press for the early release of all of them.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.