China jails Japanese Itochu employee for three years on national security charges
- Foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi confirms that man was sentenced by a court in Guangzhou
- Nine Japanese nationals have faced similar charges since 2015
An employee of Japanese corporation Itochu, who was detained in China in 2018 on suspicion of harming national security, has been sentenced to three years in prison, Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday.
A district court in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou handed down the sentence to the employee on October 15, according to a source close to Sino-Japanese ties.
He also had 150,000 yuan (US$21,300) confiscated as part of the penalty.
It was not immediately known what he had done in China to be convicted of harming the country’s national security.
Japanese former politician, 76, gets life for methamphetamine into China
Motegi confirmed a news report about the worker’s sentencing while speaking to reporters in Tokyo.
The Japanese man, who is in his forties, was detained during a visit to Guangzhou in February 2018.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said last week that the 42-year-old professor had confessed to illegally collecting state secrets, expressed repentance and was granted bail.
Since 2015, at least nine Japanese have been indicted in China for alleged involvement in spying activities. The sentencing of the Itochu worker means all nine have now had verdicts rendered against them.
