China rejects appeal of U.S. Falungong woman convicted of spying

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) - China has rejected the appeal of a Chinese-American Falungong member who was convicted of spying for trying to expose the government's incarceration of Falungong members in mental hospitals, a rights 

group said.

	    A Beijing appeals court upheld a lower court's sentence and ordered Teng Chunyan, who went by the pseudonym of Hanna Li, to spend three years in prison on a charge of gathering intelligence, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

	    Teng was also ordered to first spend three months in a "study class" where authorities typically try to reform prisoners' thinking. Her family will not be able to visit her until after she is transferred to prison.

	    Teng, an acupuncturist from New York, was arrested in May last year after Chinese authorities discovered she had arranged to have photos taken of 

members of the banned spiritual group detained at a mental hospital and gave the photos to foreign media agencies.

	    She was sentenced in December following a one-day secret trial on charges of "prying into state intelligence for overseas organisations" at the Beijing 

Intermediate People's Court.

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