Overview

• Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court handed down the 3½-year term on July 16 after closed-door proceedings with no public disclosure of evidence.
• The unnamed executive, described as a man in his 60s working for Astellas Pharma, has been detained since March 2023 and formally charged with espionage in October.
• Japan’s embassy in Beijing called the detentions a major barrier to people-to-people exchanges and reported that neither reporters nor consular staff were granted courtroom access.
• Since China enacted its counterespionage law in 2014, 17 Japanese nationals have been detained on related charges, with five still held in the country.
• The case echoes similar security probes into foreign business personnel, notably employees of WPP and Hon Hai Precision Industry, stoking corporate concerns over legal risks in China.