A Chinese court sentenced a high-ranking editor and columnist for a major Communist Party newspaper to seven years in prison on espionage charges on Friday. His family said it was punishment for past writings that were critical of the government, as well as a warning to Chinese citizens against engaging with foreigners.

周五，中国一家法院以间谍罪判处一家主要党报的高级编辑和专栏作家七年徒刑。他的家人表示，这是在惩罚他过去那些批评政府的文章，也是对中国公民与外国人的交往做出警告。

The journalist, Dong Yuyu, 62, was arrested in Beijing in 2022 while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat, who was also briefly detained.

这名记者董郁玉现年62岁，2022年在北京与一名日本外交官共进午餐时被捕，后者也被短暂拘留。

As part of his job, Mr. Dong had met regularly with foreign diplomats and journalists. He was also a prolific writer, often expressing support for the rule of law and constitutional democracy, ideas that the ruling Communist Party says it supports but in reality has suppressed. Some of his writing criticized the party’s selective version of Chinese history, which downplays its role in dark periods like the Cultural Revolution.

作为工作的一部分，董郁玉经常与外国外交官和记者碰面。他还是一位多产的作家，经常表达对法治和宪政民主的支持，执政党的共产党声称支持这些理念，实际上却在压制它们。他的一些文章批评了共产党对中国历史的选择性解读，这种解读淡化了共产党在文化大革命等黑暗时期扮演的角色。

Such critiques were once common among Chinese intellectuals. But since China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, took power in 2012, the party has eliminated virtually all space for dissenting views and urged citizens to be suspicious of foreign influence, in the name of national security.

董郁玉的这种批评在中国知识分子当中曾经很常见。但自中国现任领导人习近平于2012年掌权以来，中国共产党几乎消灭了所有发表异见的空间，并以国家安全为名，敦促公民对外国影响保持怀疑。

Purported foreign espionage has become a particular fixation for the government. Last year, China broadened its already expansive definition of espionage, and the state security agency called for a “whole-of-society mobilization” against spies.

所谓的外国间谍活动已成为中国政府特别关注的问题。去年，中国扩大了对间谍活动本就很宽泛的定义，国家安全机构呼吁“全社会动员”，打击间谍活动。

Members of Mr. Dong’s family released a statement on Friday calling his conviction and sentence a “grave injustice,” not only to Mr. Dong but “to every freethinking Chinese journalist and every ordinary Chinese committed to friendly engagement with the world.”

董郁玉的家人周五发表声明称，对他的定罪和判刑不仅是对他本人，对“每一个有自由思想的中国记者和每一个致力于与世界友好交往的普通中国人”来说，都是“严重的不公正”。

“Yuyu is being persecuted for the independence he has demonstrated during a lifetime spent as a journalist,” the statement continued. “Yuyu will now be known as a traitor in his own country, instead of being recognized as someone who always fought for a better Chinese society.”

“郁玉因在记者生涯中表现出的独立性而受到迫害，”该声明还写道。“现在，郁玉在自己的国家将被称为叛徒，而不是一个一直在为建设更美好的中国社会而奋斗的人。”

After Mr. Dong was detained in 2022, he was held incommunicado for six months before being formally arrested, and he did not stand trial until July 2023, according to his family. The court then repeatedly delayed his verdict and sentencing.

据董郁玉的家人称，他于2022年被拘留后，被单独监禁了六个月才被正式逮捕，直到2023年7月才接受审判。法院随后一再推迟对他的判决和量刑。

Charges related to national security are shrouded in secrecy, and trials are held behind closed doors. The family’s statement said that the judgment, which was read in court but not shared with Mr. Dong’s lawyers, cited his contacts with a former Japanese ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, and another Japanese diplomat as proof that he had met with agents of an espionage organization.

与国家安全有关的指控都是保密的，审判也是闭门进行的。董郁玉家属在声明中说，判决书引用了他与日本前驻华大使垂秀夫以及另一名日本外交官的接触，作为他与间谍组织特工会面的证据。判决书在法庭上宣读，但并未提供给董郁玉的律师。

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

日本驻北京大使馆没有立即回应置评请求。

Mr. Dong’s family said the authorities had also scrutinized fellowships and exchanges in which Mr. Dong had participated in Japan and the United States.

董郁玉的家人称，当局还审查了他在日本和美国获得的奖学金和参加的交流活动。

The accusations “put tens of thousands of Chinese scholars and professionals who have been on exchanges abroad in danger,” the family said.

董郁玉的家人表示，这些指控“使数以万计从事海外交流的中国学者和专业人士处于危险之中”。

Mr. Dong’s career blossomed during a time when interactions with the outside world were not only accepted but encouraged by the Chinese authorities, as the country opened its economy. He joined Guangming Daily, the Communist Party’s No. 2 paper, in 1987, after graduating from Peking University’s prestigious law school.

在中国经济开始对外开放的年代，中国当局不仅接受、并且鼓励与外部世界的互动，董郁玉的事业也在那个时代蓬勃发展。1987年，从北京大学著名的法学院毕业后，他进入中国共产党的第二大报纸《光明日报》工作。

He rose through the ranks and won journalism awards for stories he wrote or edited about corrupt officials, loans for poor students and other topics.

他不断晋升，并因撰写或编辑有关腐败官员、贫困学生贷款和其他主题的报道而获得多项新闻奖。

Outside his work for Guangming Daily, he contributed to liberal-leaning Chinese publications, which have since been shut down. He wrote articles for The New York Times’s Chinese-language website about the government’s prioritization of economic growth over issues like pollution and his desire to send his son overseas for his education.

除了为《光明日报》工作，他还为倾向自由主义的中国出版物撰稿，这些出版物后来都被关停。他曾为《纽约时报》的中文网站撰写文章，谈及政府优先考虑经济增长而不是污染等问题，以及他想送儿子出国留学的愿望。

Starting in 2006, Mr. Dong spent a year at Harvard University on a Nieman journalism fellowship; in later years, he was a visiting scholar at two Japanese universities.

从2006年开始，董郁玉凭借尼曼新闻奖学金在哈佛大学进修一年；后来几年，他在日本的两所大学担任访问学者。

After Mr. Xi took power, the space for individual expression in China quickly shrank, and he demanded that news outlets serve the party. Chinese journalists are no longer allowed to write for foreign publications, and many academics must seek permission from superiors before meeting with foreigners, even privately.

习近平上台后，中国个人表达的空间迅速缩小，习近平还要求新闻机构为党服务。中国记者不再被允许为外国出版物撰稿，许多学者在与外国人士会面之前必须征得上级许可，即使私下会面也是如此。

In 2017, party officials at Guangming Daily labeled some of Mr. Dong’s work “anti-socialist,” his family said. (Mr. Dong, unlike most of the paper’s employees, is not a party member.) He continued writing, but he often used a pen name.

董郁玉的家人称，2017年，《光明日报》的党政干部将董郁玉的一些作品贴上了“反社会主义”的标签。（与该报的大多数员工不同，董郁玉并非党员。）他继续写作，但经常使用笔名。

On Feb. 21, 2022, Mr. Dong and the Japanese diplomat with whom he was dining were detained at a hotel restaurant. The diplomat was released following protests from the Japanese government.

2022年2月21日，董郁玉和与他一起用餐的日本外交官在一家酒店餐厅被拘捕。在日本政府抗议后，该外交官被释放。

The family said Mr. Dong had been doing 200 push-ups and 200 leg raises a day in jail. He planned to appeal the verdict and sentence.

他的家人称，董郁玉在监狱里每天做200个俯卧撑和200个抬腿锻炼。他计划对判决和刑期提出上诉。

Dozens of academics, journalists and media freedom advocates overseas have also called for his release.

数十名海外学者、记者和新闻自由倡导者也呼吁释放他。

Other Chinese citizens have recently been targeted by the authorities after engaging with foreign diplomats. Two human rights activists, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan, who are married, were arrested in 2023 while on their way to meet European Union diplomats. Last month, they were sentenced to prison terms of three years and a year and nine months, respectively, on charges of inciting subversion of state power.

最近，还有一些中国公民因与外国外交官接触而成为当局的目标。2023年，人权活动人士余文生和许艳夫妇在会见欧盟外交官途中被捕。上个月，两人因“煽动颠覆国家政权罪”，分别被判处三年和一年零九个月徒刑。