Detention of Dong on espionage charges has been criticised by human rights and press freedom organisations
Detention of Dong on espionage charges has been criticised by human rights and press freedom organisations
A court in Beijing is expected to rule on Thursday in the appeal of Dong Yuyu, a Chinese journalist who is serving a seven-year jail sentence on espionage charges.
The detention of Dong, a senior columnist with a long career in Chinese state media, has been criticised by the US government and by international human rights and press freedom organisations.
As well as being a columnist for the Communist party newspaper Guangming Daily, Dong has had his work published in the Chinese editions of the New York Times and Financial Times. He won a prestigious Nieman fellowship at Harvard University in 2006 and has been a visiting scholar at two Japanese universities.
The Nieman Foundation has described Dong as a “cherished member” of the international Nieman community and called for his release.
Dong was arrested in February 2022 in Beijing while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat. The diplomat was also detained but released after a few hours. Dong has been in custody since and was charged with spying in April 2023.
