{ "title": "Incidents: secrets and espionage laws in Asia", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=asia&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws", "filters": { "continent": "asia", "tactic": "secrets_and_espionage_laws" }, "sort": "date", "count": 2, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "HK", "label": "Hong Kong", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "MM", "label": "Myanmar", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "asia", "label": "Asia" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 2 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 2 }, { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "eliminate", "label": "Eliminate", "count": 2 } ], "level": [ { "value": "state_or_province", "label": "State or province", "count": 1 }, { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 1 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 1 }, { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 1 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "aung-san-suu-kyi", "label": "Aung San Suu Kyi" }, { "value": "john-lee", "label": "John Lee" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 2 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law", "title": "China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026", "occurred_on": "2025-12-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "HK", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "john-lee", "leader_name": "John Lee", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-02-08", "outcome_note": "Sentenced to 20 years in prison on 2026-02-08; no appeal is recorded in the sources cited.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On December 15, 2025, the High Court of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China with its own courts, convicted Jimmy Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, on two counts of \"conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces\" under the National Security Law, which China's central government imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, and one count of \"conspiracy to publish seditious publications.\" On February 8, 2026, the court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison. Apple Daily shut down in June 2021 after its accounts were frozen and much of its top leadership was arrested. Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, called the charges \"bogus.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law" }, { "slug": "2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act", "title": "Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre", "occurred_on": "2018-09-03", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MM", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "aung-san-suu-kyi", "leader_name": "Aung San Suu Kyi", "issue_of_the_day": "The Reuters investigation into the killing of ten Rohingya Muslim men and boys by Myanmar soldiers and local residents in Inn Din village, Rakhine State, in September 2017.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-05-07", "outcome_note": "President Win Myint pardoned and released Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on May 7, 2019, after 511 days in prison, as part of a mass amnesty.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "Both reporters were pardoned in May 2019 after 511 days in prison.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A Myanmar court sentenced Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act after police handed them classified documents at a dinner shortly before their arrest, while they were investigating the killing of Rohingya Muslim villagers.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=asia&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=asia&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=asia&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }