Astellas Employee Intends Not to Appeal Conviction in China

   Beijing, July 19 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma Inc. in his 60s, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for espionage in China on Wednesday, has no intention to appeal the ruling for now, informed sources said Saturday.
   As China uses a two-tier court system, those who are dissatisfied with the first ruling can appeal to a higher court.
   In the Astellas employee's case, his sentence will be finalized if he does not file an appeal by the deadline in late July.
   A Beijing district court that imposed the prison sentence on the employee is believed to have found him guilty of espionage for providing information about Chinese politics and the economy to an intelligence agency.
   Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi and other Japanese Embassy officials were allowed to observe Wednesday's sentencing session. Kanasugi said that the sentence was "extremely regrettable," but he did not provide details of the ruling presented in court.

(2025/07/19-18:32)