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BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - The trial of a couple arrestedlast year following work they did for British drugmakerGlaxoSmithKline PLC in China will be handled accordingto the law, China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, brushingoff U.S. concern about the case.
The trial of British investigator Peter Humphrey and hisAmerican wife Yu Yingzeng, set for Aug. 7, will be closed to thepublic, two family friends with knowledge of the matter saidlast week.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing said it was worried itsdiplomats would not be allowed to attend Yu's trial, adding apolitical dimension to the case, which could become anotherthorny issue between the two economic powers, especially as U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting China this week.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked whetherChina's handling of the case contravened diplomatic conventions,said there was "ample legal basis" for how the government wasapproaching the matter.
"China's judicial authorities are handling the relevant caseaccording to law," Hong told a daily news briefing. "China is acountry with rule of law."
He declined to elaborate.
The British embassy has also said it was "engaging" theChinese authorities about the need for a transparent and fairtrial.
The trial of Humphrey and Yu is part of a tangled web ofprobes into drugmaker GSK, which Chinese police accused lastyear of funnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($482 million) throughtravel agencies to bribe doctors and officials in China.
ChinaWhys, the risk consultancy run by the couple, wasemployed by GSK in April 2013 to investigate an ex-employeesuspected of sending anonymous emails, including the circulationof an intimate video of former GSK China head Mark Reilly withhis girlfriend, as well as emails containing allegations ofwidespread bribery at the British drugmaker.
Three months later, authorities detained Humphrey and Yu.Chinese authorities have not openly made a link between GSK andthe case against ChinaWhys.
Reilly has been charged along with other GSK executives ofwidespread bribery and corruption, and could face decades in aChinese jail.
Corruption is endemic in the Chinese pharmaceutical market,where bribes are often used to smooth business ties withunderpaid doctors and hospitals which rely on drug sales forover 40 percent of their revenues. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ben Blanchard;Editing by Miral Fahmy)
