Yuan Keqin, a former professor at Hokkaido University of Education, has been sentenced to six years in prison on spying charges in China, sources said on Wednesday.
Supporters are demanding the Chinese scholar’s early release, claiming he has been falsely accused.
A court in Changchun, Jilin province, made the ruling in January, according to people familiar with the matter.
Yuan has already appealed the ruling.
He went missing from the city in May 2019 while temporarily returning to his home country.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry later confirmed that he had been detained and charged for alleged long-term espionage at the request of Japanese intelligence services.
When asked about Yuan’s current circumstances at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said only that China is a country under the rule of law and is handling the relevant case in accordance with the law.
Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government is stepping up its anti-espionage crackdown by strengthening surveillance of foreigners and Chinese citizens who have contact with non-Chinese nationals.
Other Chinese professors at Japanese universities have also disappeared after temporarily returning home.
