Veteran Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu is serving a seven-year sentence on espionage charges after a Beijing court convicted him on November 29, 2024. He has been held since February 2022 after he was detained while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat.
Dong began working as a columnist for the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily in 1987. His work has been published in the Chinese editions of The New York Times and the Financial Times, and he won a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2006 to 2007.
On February 21, 2022, police in Beijing arrested Dong while he was having lunch with a Japanese diplomat and charged him with espionage. The Japanese diplomat was also detained for hours before being released.
CPJ was not aware of his arrest until April 2023, when Dong’s family released a statement. Dong’s family said they kept his detention private in hopes that the charges could be reduced or dropped but went public after they were informed that his case would be sent to trial.
Dong was put on trial on July 25, 2023, according to Ian Johnson, a writer and friend of Dong who is in contact with his family. A source familiar with the case told CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation that the trial lasted only five hours and ended in one day without a decision.
Dong’s family and friends were not allowed to attend the trial, and journalists were also prohibited from covering the proceedings, according to the U.S. National Press Club.
Following Dong’s sentencing, the Japanese embassy said their diplomatic activities are carried out in a “legitimate manner,” according to news reports.
CPJ’s email to China’s Foreign Ministry in late 2024 on Dong’s sentencing did not receive a reply.