Tightened prison rules restricting lawyers and religious leaders from visiting inmates will take effect on Friday, just two weeks after the authorities proposed the amendments.

Lawyers for 2 HK activists jailed for conspiracy to subvert state power in the city’s largest national security case have told an appellate court that the pair did not receive a fair trial.

A court in China sentenced a Japanese businessman to three-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday for spying, Tokyo's ambassador in Beijing said.