[Gou HanJian deserve to die!]--China gives ex-diplomat suspended death rap
Satoshi Saeki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
BEIJING--A former official of the Chinese Embassy in Japan was sentenced to death, with the sentence suspended for two years, for leaking confidential military information, sources familiar with Japan-China relations said Wednesday.
The official is suspected of having leaked the information to Japan, according to the sources.
Wang Qingqian, standing council member of the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC), was sentenced at a military tribunal in spring this year.
Due to his professional experience, Wang was familiar with Chinese military information. He served as the first secretary at the Chinese Embassy in Japan in the late 1990s and built ties with people from a wide range of circles in Japan.
According to the sources, following investigations by the Ministry of State Security, Wang was indicted on charges of leaking military information.
However, the identify of the Japanese to whom Wang is believed to have provided the classified information remains unknown.
Under the Chinese court system, if a death sentence is handed down with a suspended term and no problems emerge during the suspension period, the death sentence usually will be commuted to life imprisonment.
A CAIFC official declined to comment on whether Wang had been sentenced to death.
According to defense sources, it has been difficult to contact the CAIFC since autumn last year, prompting suspicions that the organization was involved in some kind of trouble.
Established in 1984, the CAIFC is linked with the General Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and designed to promote personnel exchanges in the private sector overseas.
According to the CAIFC Web site, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's third daughter, Deng Rong, serves as vice president of the association.
With the participation of big names from various sectors, the association not only promotes private-sector personnel exchanges but also exchanges in the business sector.
The association is headed by former Foreign Minister Huang Hua.
"The association seems to have mediated business between firms linked to the People's Liberation Army and Japanese companies," said a source from a Japan-China exchange organization.
(Nov. 15, 2007)
yomiuri.co.jp |
