The law of the Lord is perfect, Psalm 69 says this Sunday. The laws of China came in for international criticism this week after a Chinese court sentenced an American geologist to eight years in prison for trying to buy public data about the Chinese oil industry. The heavy penalty is seen by legal experts as a warning to foreign businesses and a rebuke to the United States.

Xue Feng's lawyer called the sentence "harsh" and said few details of the allegations against Xue were made public. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Washington is "dismayed" at Monday's sentence, announced during the U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend. The embassy called for Xue's humanitarian release and deportation.

For foreign companies, Xue's case is the latest to highlight stark questions about the legality of conducting market research in China. Unlike more celebrated allegations involving Chinese secrets, Xue's case stems purely from his attempt to purchase commercially available data on the oil industry, according to people involved in his defense.

Monday's sentence "sends a very bad signal to the foreign business community if they care to examine what happened," said John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, a San Francisco group focused on helping those detained in China that was involved in Xue's case.

Though a U.S. citizen, Xue was born in China, a reminder that ethnic Chinese may be more vulnerable to pitfalls of the country's legal system than other foreigners. Chinese security agents initially denied Xue the right to contact the U.S. Embassy, and his whereabouts were unknown for weeks, while his extended detention, quick trial, and alleged actions were likewise cloaked in secrecy.

"One notable aspect of this case was the Chinese government's thumbing its nose at the [U.S. government's] efforts to support Xue," said Jerome A. Cohen, a New York University law professor and authority on China's legal system.

Source: Articles by James T. Areddy for the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.com