China Jails U.S. Geologist

Last week, 11 Russian spies were arrested in the U.S. in an alleged spy ring plot. This week? Xue Feng, a 44-year-old Chinese-born American geologist, accused of stealing state secrets, was sentenced to eight years in jail in China—a “very heavy” sentence, according to his lawyer. Feng was also fined 200,000 yuan ($30,000). Detained in 2007 after negotiating the sale of an oil industry database, Feng said the information he acquired was publicly available. During his time in detention, Feng claims, he was tortured, the interrogators burning his arms with cigarettes and hitting him on the head with an ashtray. The U.S. embassy issued a statement saying it was dismayed and urged China to grant Feng “humanitarian release and immediately deport him.”