John Shing-Wan Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, was convicted of espionage and given a life sentence Monday by the Intermediate People's Court in the eastern city of Suzhou, according to a statement on the court's social media account.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel did not get into further specifics, citing"privacy concerns" but stressed that the US seeks to provide"all appropriate assistance," including consular access, whenever a US citizen is detained abroad. It also comes as American and Chinese officials are resuming high-level engagements since a dispute over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shattered efforts to mend ties earlier this year.
In March, Chinese authorities detained a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma in Beijing on suspected espionage -- the 17th Japanese national to have been detained in China since the counter-espionage law was introduced in 2014.