Dong, a senior columnist at the Communist Party newspaper Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 along with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing restaurant.

The diplomat was released after a few hours of questioning, but Dong, now 63, was charged with spying in 2023 and sentenced to seven years in prison last November.

Beijing's High Court on Thursday upheld Dong's sentence following his appeal, his family said in a statement posted on media platform Substack, calling it a "shameless act of persecution".

"Even after hearing Yuyu's appeal presenting ample evidence and sufficient logic to prove his innocence, the court rejects the reasoning and evidence," the statement added.

Dong's family said last November that according to the court's judgement, the Japanese diplomats Dong met with, including then ambassador Hideo Tarumi and current consul general in Shanghai Masaru Okada, were named as agents of an "espionage organisation".

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called the court's ruling an "unconscionable decision" and urged Chinese authorities to immediately release Dong.

"Today's ruling shows China is determined to deny Dong Yuyu the justice he deserves," CPJ's Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi said in a statement.

Beijing's foreign ministry said that China is a country "ruled by law" when asked about Dong's case during a press briefing Thursday.

"Those who violate the law and commit crimes will be held accountable according to the law," spokesman Lin Jian said.

Under Chinese law, a person convicted of espionage can be jailed for three to 10 years for less severe cases or receive heavy punishment, including life imprisonment, for serious cases.

Dong's work has been published in the Chinese editions of The New York Times and the Financial Times.

He won the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2006-2007.

Civil liberties and freedom of expression have dramatically receded in China under President Xi Jinping.

The Communist Party maintains tight restrictions on domestic media outlets, and Chinese nationals who work with foreign outlets are routinely harassed.

isk/reb/hmn

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY