The senior American citizen who was sentenced to life in prison in China for spying allegations is a seasoned figure in many pro-Beijing organizations in the United States and has long maintained close ties with senior Chinese government officials.
Except from his US passport number, Hong Kong ID number, and date of birth, the court in eastern China that convicted John Shing-Wan Leung, 78, did not offer any other information on the espionage allegations or Leung’s personal background.
Pro-Beijing Advocate Convicted of Espionage in China
The Texas Council for the Advancement of China’s Peaceful Reunification is a group that supports Beijing’s claims over Taiwan, and CNN discovered a man with the same Chinese name and birthdate as Leung who has led multiple pro-China organizations in the US.
One of the three directors of that same group is identified as John Leung in the Texas corporate registry.
David Tang, a director who is also named on the registry, verified to CNN that the now-imprisoned Leung is a colleague at the company and a close friend.
Despite Leung’s relative notoriety and power, before Monday’s verdict and sentencing announcement, there was no public knowledge of his arrest in China.
According to the court statement, Leung was apprehended by state security officers in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on April 15, 2021.
Espionage cases are typically handled behind closed doors in China, where the legal system has a conviction rate of over 99%. Espionage is a wide and ill-defined allegation.
Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the State Department, refrained from going into additional detail out of privacy concerns, but he did emphasize that whenever a US citizen is held abroad, the US strives to offer all appropriate assistance, including consular access.
Leung’s Role in Controversial Lobby Group Under Scrutiny
Leung’s Texas organization is connected to a pro-China, Taiwan-focused lobby group based in Washington DC called the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), where Leung serves as an executive member and sits on the board of directors.
In 2020, the NACPU was declared a foreign mission by the Trump administration, which charged that it was under the direction of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, a powerful branch of the authoritarian regime tasked with extending Beijing’s propaganda and influence abroad.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the designation by saying that it was absolutely wrong for the US to place discriminatory limitations on NACPU.