Briton gets life sentence for 'spying' in China
A Hong Kong-based British citizen has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on spying charges, it was reported today.
Chinese officials have not disclosed details of the case against Chan Yu-lam, a former employee of the Hong Kong bureau of China’s official Xinhua News Agency. The bureau acted as China’s consulate in the former British colony before it returned to mainland rule in 1997.
Chan, 53, was sentenced yesterday by a court in the southern city of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported, citing his defence lawyer, who it said refused to give details of the case for fear of jeopardising a possible appeal.
It was not clear if Chan worked as a journalist. Phone calls to the Guangzhou court and the lawyer’s offices were not answered. A man who answered the phone at the British embassy in Beijing said no one was immediately available for comment.
The Washington Post reported this week that Chan was accused of breaking Chinese law by discussing the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests with a British agent.
The Post said Chan was also accused of illegally giving the agent phone numbers for the Xinhua bureau. It said he was tried on February 24.
Beijing worries that Hong Kong, which has wide autonomy and its own border controls, could become a base for foreign espionage against the mainland.
The British embassy confirmed this week that Chan had been detained, but it would not confirm reports that he was charged with espionage.
The embassy also said two other Hong Kong-based British citizens had been detained in Guangzhou. It identified one as Wei Pingyuan but would not give the name of the third person.
The Washington Post said an unknown number of others also had been detained in the case.
China declined a British request for access to the three British detainees, the embassy said. It said they entered the mainland using Hong Kong identity cards instead of British passports, so Chinese officials said they were not covered by a consular treaty that would let diplomats see them.
