Prison Sentence for Japanese Employee: Visiting China with Peace of Mind Impossible under Its Judicial System

Editorial

14:57 JST, July 17, 2025

China cannot be called a nation governed by the rule of law, considering that, throughout the legal proceedings, it was never sufficiently specified what kind of conduct allegedly violated the law. China needs to change its opaque judicial system.

The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, a district court, has sentenced a Japanese man — an employee of Astellas Pharma Inc. — who was indicted on suspicion of espionage, to 3½ years in prison.

The trial was closed to the public, but Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi and others were allowed to attend the session at which the ruling was handed down. According to the ambassador, the court explained the alleged espionage activities to some extent. But he said, “It was not something that could be considered transparent.”

When the extremely grave judicial decision of a prison sentence is to be handed down, it would make sense to show the content of the judgment. It is obvious that China’s judicial procedures deviate greatly from the norms of the international community.

China enforced a counterespionage law in 2014 to intensify its surveillance of foreigners. A total of at least 17 Japanese nationals have been detained on suspicion of espionage and other charges. Five of them, including the man who received a prison sentence this time, have not been released.

It is extremely regrettable that the Chinese side has not complied with the Japanese government’s repeated requests for the early release of the Japanese nationals, including this man.

The counterespionage law was amended in 2023. In addition to “state secrets,” the theft or provision of “documents and data relating to national security and interests,” among others, were included as acts of espionage. There is concern that this will lead to more arbitrary application of the law by Chinese authorities.

Meanwhile, China has shown a willingness to improve relations with Japan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau, stated at a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Malaysia this month: “Bilateral relations have shown a momentum of improvement and development. This situation deserves to be cherished.”

At the end of June, China lifted the ban on imports of Japanese marine products that it had imposed following the release of treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. It also validated an animal health and quarantine agreement between Japan and China to resume imports of Japanese beef, which have been suspended since 2001.

China may be aiming to create distance between Japan and the United States by improving relations with Japan in preparation for an intensified confrontation with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In Japan, however, concerns that Japanese nationals might be detained in China have spread, mainly among the business community and academic circles, leading to moves to suspend or cancel visits to China or residences in the country.

If the safety of Japanese nationals is not ensured, the flow of people traveling between Japan and China will not progress, and building a stable relationship will become difficult. China should be aware of this.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 17, 2025)