Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu, a veteran writer and Harvard University fellow known for his keen observations about Chinese politics and economics, was on Friday sentenced to seven years in jail for espionage, according to his family, who rejected the charges as “patently absurd.”

       The 62-year-old was a columnist and editor for Guangming Daily, a major Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper, who used his platform to argue for reform and frequently interacted with foreign journalists and diplomats. He was detained in February 2022 while meeting with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing hotel.