The family of Dong Yuyu, the former deputy director of the comment department of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Guangming Daily,” who was sentenced to 7 years for espionage activities, has raised ten major questions. These include the unreasonable labeling of several senior Japanese diplomats as spy agents, the absence of evidence showing Dong Yuyu gained any benefits, and why the court has not provided a written verdict to the family yet.
Dong Yuyu was sentenced to 7 years by the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court on November 29, and on December 7, his family handed over a list of “Ten Questions” related to the case to Professor Chioko Ago of the University of Tokyo in Japan. Chioko Ago, along with two other Japanese scholars, recently called on the Chinese government to release Dong Yuyu, arguing that he could not be a spy and criticizing the vague definition of espionage by the Chinese Communist Party.
On February 21, 2022, Dong Yuyu was unexpectedly taken away while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat at a hotel in Beijing. The diplomat who met with him was also briefly detained.
According to Chioko Ago’s post on X platform on the 7th, Dong Yuyu’s family questions why, if the Chinese National Security Ministry identified eight senior diplomats from the Japanese Embassy in China as agents of a spy organization, did they allow these diplomats to conduct espionage activities in China for over 20 years?
The family of Dong Yuyu also questions when the Chinese National Security Ministry designated these senior diplomats, including former Japanese Ambassador to China Shuji Tabuki, as agents of a spy organization? If this designation was made after the incident, how could they expect Dong Yuyu, a regular citizen, to be more aware that they were agents of a spy organization than the National Security Ministry was?
The family also questions why the Chinese National Security Ministry considered these senior diplomats as agents of a Japanese spy organization based simply on titles on their business cards such as “Director of International Intelligence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” and “Intelligence Analyst of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” believing that the meaning of “intelligence” in Japanese is the same as in Chinese. However, the term “intelligence” in Japanese also conveys the meaning of “information.” They asked, “Which country’s spy agents would print their spy identity on their business cards?”
The family of Dong Yuyu emphasizes that while the prosecutor and court found him guilty of espionage, they did not find any evidence that Dong Yuyu received any money or other non-material benefits during his interactions with Japanese diplomats. The court needs to provide a logical explanation.
They state that whenever Dong Yuyu traveled abroad, it was approved by the leadership of Guangming Daily. He did not violate Chinese laws nor the foreign affairs management regulations of the newspaper. They question why he should be required to report personal interactions with foreign friends outside of work to the newspaper’s foreign affairs office.
The family of Dong Yuyu also questions why the court has not provided a written verdict. They ask, “Is this reasonable?” The verdict was only verbally relayed with no formal written documentation.
The Chinese Communist Party’s heavy sentence on Dong Yuyu for alleged espionage has raised concerns internationally.
On December 3, three Japanese scholars issued a statement urging the Chinese authorities to immediately release Dong Yuyu without charges. One of the initiators of the statement is Chioko Ago, who has had several meetings with Dong Yuyu.
Dong Yuyu often wrote commentaries with a liberal inclination and was known for his keen observations on Chinese society. Over the years, he frequently engaged in face-to-face exchanges with diplomats and journalists from various countries’ embassies.
Chioko Ago told Central News Agency that Dong Yuyu was a rational and professional scholar, and it was normal for scholars or foreign diplomats to exchange information about China. The lack of a publicly available written judgment in this case and solely a verbal notification is very unusual.
She noted that, according to information from Dong Yuyu’s family, photos of landscapes and dinner menus given to Dong Yuyu by former Japanese Ambassador to China, Shuji Tabuki, were used as “evidence” of Dong Yuyu’s alleged espionage activities, which she found incredibly unbelievable.
On December 4, a spokesperson for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Toshihiro Kitamura, stated in a press conference that they had raised concerns with the Chinese side regarding the classification of several individuals possibly related to Japanese diplomats as “agents of a spy organization” by the Chinese authorities. He emphasized that embassy staff and other diplomatic activities were legitimate duties.