Chinese Court Jails Japanese Executive in Spying Case, Report Says
The man, an executive of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc., was handed a jail term of three-and-a-half years, according to the Embassy of Japan in Beijing. The executive was detained in March 2023 and charged with espionage in October of that year.
The sentence comes amid already tense relations between the two countries, which have been hurt by a range of issues, from Chinese military maneuvers to Japan's release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean.
READ: China Charges Japanese Executive Detained For Spying
'We have consistently urged the Chinese side for the early release of Japanese nationals through various channels, including at the leader and foreign minister levels,' the Embassy said in a statement. 'It is deeply regrettable that a guilty sentence was handed down in this case.'
Beijing had cited the country's national security for not heeding Tokyo's call for the man's release.
A spokesperson for Astellas declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.
The case has alarmed executives in China. Japanese companies are not the only ones whose employees have been taken into custody. An executive and two former employees of WPP Plc, one of the world's biggest advertising companies, were arrested in China in 2023 in relation to a bribery investigation. Chinese police also took into custody four Taiwanese employees at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Apple Inc.'s main assembly partner last year.
With assistance from Yui Hasebe and James Mayger.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Abracadabra: The Victoria and Albert museum has opened its vaults
It's a bit like a department store, except it is about the size of 30 basketball courts. The V&A East Storehouse is spread across three floors. (Photo by Hufton + Crow) And instead of groceries, there are slices of history on the shelves: a 16th-century Japanese suit of armour; 600-year-old ceramics; wedding dresses from the 1930s. This is the newly opened V&A East Storehouse. In an effort more than 10 years in the making, an old warehouse has been redesigned by the renowned American studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The Storehouse is now an array of vast, airy galleries, spread across three storeys, each level arranged around a striking 20-metre-high central atrium. All the 250,000-plus artefacts stored here are visible to visitors, placed either within transparent wrapping or behind thin glass, often in partially dismantled crates, all lined up on long metal shelves. The V&A wanted to reimagine what a museum could be, and give viewers a 'backstage pass' to what really goes on inside one, Tim Reeve, deputy director and chief operating officer at the Victoria and Albert Museum, has said. Many of the artefacts are so massive, they haven't been exhibited in decades. These include: An exquisite 15th-century carved and gilded wooden ceiling from the now-lost Torrijos Palace near Toledo in Spain. A 1930s all-wood Kaufmann Office, designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for Edgar J Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh-based department-store owner. A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century. The 15th-century carved and gilded wooden ceiling from the lost Torrijos Palace in Spain. (Photo by David Parry / PA Media) Curated mini-exhibits sprinkled across the space, meanwhile, currently include swatches of fabric from across Africa, sculptural shoes by Zaha Hadid, a Piaggio scooter customised by Daniel Libeskind, and Jain sculptures in sandstone. These exhibits will change from time to time. There's more. As part of V&A's Order an Object initiative, visitors can go online to pick from a list of artefacts, book a (free) appointment, and then turn up at the appointed time to have the object/s unpacked so they can look at them, touch them (in many cases), and learn more about them from museum staff. Even without such an appointment, the space offers plenty of inside access. In one of the galleries, for instance, visitors can watch the regular goings-on of such a repository, as technicians pack away newly acquired works, conservators unbox items to check on them and others work to restore artefacts. Shelf life What does it do to the artefact-viewer relationship, when an institution reinvents itself in this manner? Museums are working to cater to new generations that have instant, digital access to diverse information, says Anupam Sah, director of the Anupam Heritage Lab and former head of art conservation, research and training at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum (CSMVS). An Order an Object appointment underway at V&A East Storehouse. (Photo by Bet Bettencourt) The result has been a host of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiments; 3D reconstructions; interfaces inspired by videogames; even exhibits on youth icons such as Taylor Swift (the V&A and Museum of Arts and Design in New York have each had one). The Storehouse is a particularly interesting approach because it meets the need for a dramatically new interface while staying true to the primary functions of a museum — the collection and care of artefacts, and outreach and education, Sah says. It serves the purpose of generating curiosity and a sense of a niche experience, because these are objects that have rarely been displayed. The space is made less intimidating by its casual, Ikea-like design. And the idea that one can book an appointment and have someone unbox and explain an artefact places the visitor at par with a researcher, connoisseur or patron, completely reinventing this relationship. To meet these goals so seamlessly, using only existing holdings, is quite a feat, Sah says. A view of conservators at work at V&A East Storehouse. (Photo by David Parry / PA Media) Revised roadMAP The idea of visible storage can be traced, incidentally, to the Canadian anthropologist Audrey Hawthorn and his work at the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia, in the 1970s. Back then, the aim was to democratise access to national treasures. Now, it is to draw the public in and highlight the continued relevance of the museum as an institution. Along these lines, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington and Louvre-Lens in Lens, France, have all opened up parts of their storage to the public. A similar effort is unfolding in India, at the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru. Two of its storage floors are open to visitors. One houses more than 340 objects ranging from textiles and horse jewellery to cigarette cards, while the other has more than 250 metal sculptures. The periodic exhibitions held at the museum innovate with an eye on high levels of engagement too, says Arnika Ahldag, director of curation and exhibition at MAP. An ongoing exhibition on the Modernist Ram Kumar, for instance, includes the simple addition of a wooden desk. Here, visitors can flip through books about the artist, place handwritten letters by him on a lightbox in order to view them more clearly, and even write a letter to themselves or leave one behind for the next visitor. 'We always try to locate an immediate point of resonance with the visitor, so that the works feel accessible without compromising their complexity,' says Ahldag. The beauty of this is that, once you move away from the idea of objects in a glass case, the room for innovation is immense. 'And that's a good thing,' Ahldag adds. 'We need different kinds of museums for different kinds of audiences.' (Entry to both V&A East Storehouse and the MAP museum is free)
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
2 hours ago
- Business Standard
New Zealand to charge foreign tourists up to NZ$40 at popular sites
The country's pristine national parks and great walks are "truly special to New Zealanders" and foreigners should pay a fee at high traffic sites, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a speech Bloomberg New Zealand will begin charging foreign tourists up to NZ$40 ($24) to visit its most popular tourist destinations such as Milford Track and Mount Cook as the government seeks ways to help spur economic growth. The country's pristine national parks and great walks are 'truly special to New Zealanders' and foreigners should pay a fee at high traffic sites, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a speech Saturday. The NZ$62 million in annual revenue generated will be re-invested into those locations, he said. 'I have heard many times from friends visiting from overseas their shock that they can visit some of the most beautiful places in the world for free,' Luxon said. 'It's only fair that at these special locations, foreign visitors make an additional contribution of between NZ$20 and NZ$40 per person.' New Zealand has earmarked tourism as a key avenue to generate economic growth as the nation's recovery from a recession last year gathers pace. The government from November will replace a costly transit visa for Chinese travelers in a bid to attract visitors. The government will initially consider introducing the fee at Cathedral Cove, Tongariro Crossing, Milford Track and Mount Cook, sites where foreigners often make up 80 per cent of visitors, Luxon said. 'At the same time, there will be no charge for New Zealanders to access the conservation estate,' he said. 'It's our collective inheritance and Kiwis shouldn't have to pay to see it.'
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $126 million this week, down 35% on-year
ETtech ETtech Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills ETtech ETtech Startups raised around $125.7 million during the week of July 26 to August 1, marking a 34.6% decline from the $192.1 million raised during the same period last year, according to data from funding amount declined from the previous week as well, dropping 40.5% from $211.3 activity, too, declined this week on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, with 17 transactions recorded during the period, compared to the 45 deals seen in the corresponding week last intelligence startup Safe Security raised $70 million in a funding round led by Avataar Ventures, with participation from Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, NextEquity Partners, and Prosperity7 kitchen operator EatClub, which runs brands like Box8 and Mojo Pizza, raised around $22 million in funding led by existing investors Tiger Global, A91 Partners, and 360 One Asset Management. Metaforms raised $9 million in a funding round led by Peak XV Partners, with Nexus Venture Partners and Together Fund gaming platform Stan raised $8.5 million in a funding round from a clutch of investors, including Japanese gaming firms, Google, and Nazara Technologies Edtech startup Arivihan, which offers automated, personalised coaching for school students, raised $4.17 million in a funding round led by Dutch investment firm Prosus and Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm Accel
