Ching Cheong

Ching Cheong is a senior journalist with ''The Straits Times''. He is best known for having been detained by the People's Republic of China for alleged espionage accused of providing state secrets to Taiwan, while receiving millions of dollars in rewards. He was imprisoned from April 2005 to February 2008 having spent more than 1000 days in prison.

Life

Ching was born in China on December 3, 1949. He was educated in St. Paul's College, Hong Kong, and graduated from Hong Kong University in 1973 with a degree in Economics.

In 1974, he joined the pro-China newspaper Wen Wei Po , of which he eventually became vice-editorial manager. After the of June 4, 1989, Ching and around 40 other journalists resigned from the newspaper in protest.

In June 2005, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Reporters Without Borders organized a calling for Ching's immediate release from unfair detention. The petition, containing more than 13,000 signatures, was sent to Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China. The International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists have also protested Ching Cheong's detention. The British Government was also asked to as Ching Cheong holds a British National passport.

On January 12, 2006, 35 legislative councillors including 10 pro-Beijing councillors signed an open letter asking the Chinese authorities to release Ching unless there was sufficient evidence.

On February 22, 2006, the prosecutor in charge of Ching's case decided to send his file back to the State Security Department for further investigation. The trial was thus delayed for at least one month.

Ching was tried ''in camera'', found guilty of spying, and was sentenced on August 31, 2006 to five years' imprisonment.
The family's statement on the same day claimed the verdict to be extremely biased, adopting only evidence of the Procuratorate while ignoring almost all defence arguments and Ching's self-defence.

On September 1, 2006 Ching's wife reported that her husband had called the verdict "very unfair" and vowed to appeal the sentence.

On 5 February, 2008, the Chinese government announced that they had released Ching from prison early, in advance of the Chinese New Year holiday.

Published works

*''Will Taiwan Break Away: The Rise of Taiwanese Nationalism'' ISBN 981-02-4486-X
*with Ching Hung-Yee: ''Handbook on China's WTO Accession and Its Impacts'' ISBN 981-238-061-2