China jails U.S. citizen for life on espionage charges

Beijing – China has sentenced a 78-year-old U.S. citizen to life in prison for espionage, a court statement said Monday.

John Shing-wan Leung, an American passport holder and Hong Kong permanent resident, “was found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life,” said the statement from the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Suzhou.

Suzhou authorities “took compulsory measures according to the law” against 78-year-old Leung in April 2021, it said, without specifying when he had been taken into custody.