China's Arrest Of Astellas Exec Spurs Retreat By Foreign Firms

The formal arrest of a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma detained since Thursday, October 19, 2023, on espionage charges is expected to accelerate the trend of foreign companies scaling back their China operations amid uncertainty about where the legal lines lie, as reported by Nikkei Asia.

China has notified the Japanese Embassy and other institutions, and Japan has requested his early release. I Photo: Astellas Pharma

The news dismayed top representatives from Japanese businesses at the Tokyo-Beijing Forum, an event in Beijing where experts from both countries discuss political and economic topics.

China has notified the Japanese Embassy and other institutions, and Japan has requested his early release. China introduced an anti-espionage law in 2014 and revised it in July, as also reported by Reuters.

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