China confirms the 2022 conviction of a British businessperson on espionage charges
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Ian J. Stones was convicted of being bought off to provide intelligence to “external forces,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said when asked about the case at a daily briefing. The British government warns about the risk of arbitrary detention in China and the broad scope of the national security law. The U.S. travel advisory says that Chinese authorities “appear to have broad discretion to deem a wide range of documents, data, statistics, or materials as state secrets and to detain and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage.” It says that foreigners who have been detained for alleged national security law violations include businesspeople, former government officials, academics, journalists and relatives of Chinese involved in legal disputes.