By Japan Today Editor
Copyright japantoday
A high-ranking Chinese government official has warned Japan’s business community against spying in China, following the espionage conviction of an employee of a Japanese company, diplomatic sources said.
The warning, delivered in person to a powerful Japanese business figure whose name hasn’t been revealed, came shortly after a Chinese court in July sentenced an Astellas Pharma Inc. employee to three years and six months in prison for spying, the sources said.
It is rare for a Chinese government official to convey a message directly to a Japanese business figure without going through the Japanese government.
Such pressure from the Chinese government could further make Japanese businesses wary of operating in the country, amid concerns that actions may arbitrarily be labeled espionage, creating uncertainty over when and why someone might be detained.
In the warning, the Chinese official strongly discouraged Japanese businesses from taking state secrets out of China at the behest of Japanese intelligence agencies, citing the Public Security Intelligence Agency as one such entity.
While China insists business operations are secure as long as firms do not violate its counterespionage law, fears are mounting that the law is applied selectively, after Japanese company officials were convicted of spying.
When meeting the Japanese business leader, the Chinese government official, meanwhile, expressed hope for developing bilateral economic ties, noting the two Asian nations are deeply connected through supply chains, the sources said.
The ruling by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court came on July 16, with the sources saying the court concluded he provided information to a Japanese intelligence agency and received rewards.
The Astellas employee had served as an executive at the Japanese pharmaceutical firm’s China unit and as a senior official of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.
He was detained in March 2023, just before his scheduled return to Japan, formally arrested in October that year, and indicted in August 2024.
Since China’s counterespionage law took effect in 2014, 17 Japanese citizens, including the Astellas employee, have been detained for alleged spying, the Japanese government said, adding that five remain in China.
