SHANGHAI: China has deported a US citizen who was convicted of espionage this week after being held without trial for two years, removing a source of friction between Washington and Beijing.

Sandy Phan-Gillis was arrested in March 2015 while about to leave mainland China for the Chinese-ruled, former Portuguese colony of Macau. A court on Tuesday ordered her deportation after sentencing her to three-and-a-half years in prison for espionage.

She left China from the southern city of Guangzhou and arrived in Los Angeles on the same day, her husband said in a statement.

The Chinese government has not released details of the charges against Phan-Gillis. Her lawyer said he could not reveal details of the case because it involved “state secrets.”

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2017