78-year-old US citizen sentenced to life on spying charges in China

China has sentenced a 78-year-old U.S. citizen to life in prison on spying charges Monday after the man was detained more than two years ago.

John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds a permanent residence in Hong Kong, was detained by China’s counterintelligence agency in the eastern city of Suzhou on April 15, 2021, according to a post on the city’s website. The details of the charges against him were not released.

Authorities also confiscated around $70,000 of Leung’s property, according to the city.

The sentencing of Leung comes as tensions between China and the U.S. continue to flare.

President Biden is set to visit Japan later this week, also making stops in Papua New Guinea, an island in the Pacific Ocean that China has targeted in increasing its influence.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it was aware of the sentencing but could not comment further, according to The Associated Press.

“The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” the embassy said in the emailed statement.

The sentencing of Leung on espionage charges also comes as several Americans in Russia have been charged and detained on similar accusations. That includes The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia earlier this year and accused of spying. It is a claim the U.S. and the Journal have denied.

The White House has publicly put pressure on Russia to free Gershkovich and other Americans it says are “wrongfully detained” in Russia. But critics have pushed Biden to do more to work to secure their release, arguing his administration has not prioritized the issue enough.