The sentencing of Dong Yuyu, a former Harvard Nieman fellow, signals that officials consider some exchanges between Chinese citizens and foreigners to be espionage.

By Laurie Chen and James Pomfret BEIJING (Reuters) -A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu on Friday to seven years in prison for espionage, a family member told Reuters.

Dong Yuyu is a respected reporter internationally and his family is dismayed by the sentence. Journalist rights groups are calling for his immediate release. A veteran Chinese state media journalist has been sentenced to seven years in prison for espionage, a verdict his family describes as a "grave injustice".

Beijing court has sentenced state media journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years for espionage, sparking global condemnation.

With Yuyu’s conviction, every Chinese citizen, when dealing with the Japanese embassy — or perhaps any other foreign embassy and diplomat — will be expected to know that

Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu was sentenced in a Beijing court to seven years in prison for espionage after meeting with a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant.

Longtime state media journalist Dong Yuyu met often with journalists and diplomats. His family believes he is now being persecuted for those exchanges.