China sentences computer technician to death for espionage

China has sentenced a computer technician to death for selling classified documents to foreign agencies, a media report said on Wednesday.

The report said that Huang Yu, 41, sold 150,000 documents including military codes from 2002 to 2011 for a total of around 700,000 dollars.

“Huang was working at a research lab specialising in cryptology in the south-western city of Chengdu and had sold the information because he wanted to get rich,’’ the report said, without stating the foreign agencies involved.

Media also aired an interview with Huang where he admitted to meeting with foreign spies in South-East Asia and stealing documents from his wife and brother-in-law, who also worked with classified information.

The reports said Huang’s wife was sentenced to five years in prison and his brother-in-law was sentenced to three years in prison, both for negligent disclosure of state secrets.

According to the reports, many facts about the case are unclear.

Huang was arrested in 2011, although the date of sentencing was not reported.

“It is not clear why authorities did not publicise his case until now, and it has not been confirmed whether his execution has in fact been carried out.

“If there are other people doing similar things, betraying their country, I hope they will report themselves to the national security people,’’ Huang said in the video, while wearing shackles around his wrist.

Televised confessions from high profile suspects including business executives, journalists and activists have become increasingly common in the past few years.

The news came after China on Friday marked its second annual National Security Education Day, with posters and slogans warning against the dissemination of confidential information.

The public awareness campaign included a pamphlet telling the cautionary tale of a young Chinese woman working in a propaganda department, who is seduced into revealing state secrets by a charming foreign spy posing as an academic.