Japanese woman gets 6-year jail term in China for espionage

I expect she didn't do anything that was really spying.

These arrests are really troubling. Given the shady things China seems to be doing, it’s no wonder that foreign internet networks don’t want to use Chinese companies like Huawei, that production is being transfered to Vietnam and India, and that nations are turning toward the country aggressively.

China arrests but gives no detailed explanation. One key sign of a (in this case, thinly-veiled) dictatorship.

Despicable. I am very angry to read this. This is the price paid for doing business with a Communist dictatorship. Unless this Japanese woman is released immediately, many Chinese government staff must be expelled from Japan.

If I wanted to be a spy in a foriegn country, language schools or churches would be the perfect cover.

And if I wanted to indoctrinate someone, I'll jail him and release him after and nobody will never suspect!

Unfortunately there will be no trial or if there is we will have no access the contents of such trial.

I have no desire to even set foot in China. Their "social credit system" which will start within the next 2 years is about as draconian as it gets.

@Ganbare - in spite of all your down votes I agree with you (perhaps without the last comment)

Shes in for some hell. If not guilty that is really unfortunate.

Wasn't aware that the punishment in China for espionage was 6 years! That’s pretty lax

People can't easily go to China for sightseeing. When they are going taking pictures all over, secret police find you and arrest you due to espionage. You would be detained for years. Even a little child does it, charge him/her spy.

who is of Chinese origin

Just as likely she refused to spy on behalf of the Chinese government

After all, she was teaching at a...

Tokyo-based Japanese language school

To me, that seems the far more likely story.

I have no desire to even set foot in China.

You only have to look at the flow of tourists to see that sentiment is widely shared.

Despicable. I am very angry to read this. This is the price paid for doing business with a Communist dictatorship. Unless this Japanese woman is released immediately, many Chinese government staff must be expelled from Japan.

Having seen Japan's standard of law in the last two weeks regarding detention without a charge, I don't really think that Japan is in any position to be criticising any other countries law.

@Matt Hartwell, refused to be a Chinese spy or was busted as a double spy? At delicate times like this the lure of money and power can easily overwhelm certain race which has the extreme ambition to outdo everyone. Just being skeptical and not being a racist, though.

The source, however, said the specifics of what she did remain unknown.

Its amusing the Chinese are jailing people without publicly releasing details of the trial or case, while complaining about the Canadians and Americans detaining the CFO of Huawei which we all know is on suspicions of breaching Iranian sanctions

Andrew Crisp, I am expecting a number of innocent Canadian citizens to be arrested in the free and liberal paradise called China in a while as retaliation. A dictatorship does not need a valid case to arrest anyone if they wish to send a message, and I suspect this unfortunate person is in that precise situation (thepersoniamnow, that might explain the”lenient” prison term, for real espionage especially a person of Chinese origin, I would expect more in the line of a bullet in the back of the head).

Any desire to visit China as a tourist that I once had has long since evaporated.

I've been to China. I'll never go there again.

Me too Michael. I'll never visit a communist place again. You can even feel the oppression.

People are demanding to see evidence on the Huawei exec case

Did we even see any evidence from China in this case?