As reported today in the Washington Post, China has detained Singapore Straits Times chief China correspondent Ching Cheong since April 22, when he apparently went to Guangzhou to collect papers relating to secret interviews conducted with denounced (and recently deceased) premier Zhao Ziyang. Apparently this has not been reported in the Straits Times itself. From the Washington Post article:
Lau [Ching Cheong's wife] said Chinese authorities warned her and the Straits Times not to disclose her husband's detention, and she stayed silent for weeks in the hope he would be released. She said she decided to go public last week after a mainland official told her privately that the government was preparing to charge him with "stealing core state secrets."
If charged, Ching would be the second journalist for a foreign newspaper arrested by the government of President Hu Jintao in the past year. Zhao Yan, a researcher in the Beijing bureau of the New York Times, was arrested by the State Security Ministry in September on similar charges and has been held incommunicado without trial since.
The arrests could have a chilling effect on foreign news operations in China. The Chinese government often jails Chinese journalists and writers -- the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders says there are more journalists in prison in China than anywhere else in the world -- but in the past it has generally refrained from arresting individuals employed by foreign news agencies.
The Straits Times, which has not reported the detention of its correspondent, said in a written statement Sunday that it had been told by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore that Ching "is assisting security authorities in Beijing with an investigation into a matter not related to the Straits Times."
From: Hong Kong Reporter Being Held By China: Writer Sought Records Of Secret Interviews. By Philip Pan, Washington Post, May 30, 2005.
If Ching has been detained, this last is a reality-bending statement worthy of the Chinese government itself. The Straits Times' muted response and distancing of itself from Ching contrasts starkly with the anger raised in the New York Times editorial pages following the detention of Zhao Yan. (I'm not providing a Times link because those op-ed pieces will no longer be free.)
I wonder if the response would have been different if Ching was a Singaporean citizen rather than a Hong Kong one. Even if Ching's visit wasn't connected with work for the Straits Times (he published elsewhere), it's a reaction that must raise eyebrows amongst Singapore Press Holdings journalists working in China. Of course there are plausible reasons for the silence. It may be that the Straits Times and Singapore government are working furiously behind the scenes, or have been told that Ching will be released at some point in the future if they keep quiet.
Or perhaps one nosy, Hongkie journalist isn't worth ruffling diplomatic feathers over. Singapore has invested a great deal in its relationship with China, and sees China as a huge part of its future (hence the drive to get its ethnic-Chinese majority speaking Mandarin as well as English). Last year there was much public contrition after Singapore's prime minister aroused Chinese government ire with a visit to Taiwan. There is a great deal invested in the relationship. The boat may brook no rocking.
The Washington Post article also raises the possibility that Ching was entrapped:
Lau said Ching never disclosed the identity of the source [of Zhao Ziyang interview transcripts] to her and that she suspected Chinese security agents might have tricked him into traveling to the mainland. A day after he was detained, she said, he called her and arranged for his laptop computer to be brought to the mainland, too.
Security agents have allowed Ching to call her four more times, she said. In the latest call, on Sunday morning, Ching urged her not to tell reporters about his detention. But when a security agent picked up the phone and invited Lau to come to Beijing to see her husband, he grabbed the phone and told her to stay in Hong Kong, she said.
"He told me to work on his behalf in Hong Kong," Lau said. "He told me to visit his mother and father more."
Sounds like he's anticipating a long stay.
Updates:
Reporters Sans Frontieres statement. (Blocked in China) Full text:
China 30 May 2005
Hong Kong journalist detained in Beijing for more than one month
Reporters Without Borders called on Singapore and Britain to act to obtain the release of journalist Ching Cheong (photo), Hong Kong correspondent for the Singapore daily Straits Times who has been detained in Beijing for more than one month.
The Singapore-resident journalist, who was picked up by Chinese police in Guangzhou, southern China on 24 April, is the holder of a British National Overseas (BNO) passport specific to Hong Kong. He faces a possible charge of "stealing state secrets".
The Singapore and British governments should pressure for the immediate release of the journalist, the worldwide press freedom organisation said in letter addressed to the Singapore's Prime Minster Lee Hsieng Loong, and British Foreign Minister Jack Straw.
The organisation insisted that Singapore government had an obligation to protect the freedom of the journalist who was working for a pro-government newspaper Straits Times. The Singapore ministry of foreign affairs however stated on 30 May that the Chinese authorities had not contacted it about the subject so they did not have sufficient information.
Ching Cheong, 55, travelled to Guangzhou to collect documents connected with the former communist party leader, Zhao Ziyang, who died in January while under house arrest for negotiating with demonstrators in 1989.
Ching is the second journalist employed by a foreign newspaper to be detained in China. New York Times contributor, Zhao Yan, was arrested by Chinese authorities in October 2004 and accused of "divulging state secrets".
Singaporean newspaper Today reports on the story. Today is not owned by Straits Times publisher SPH, but by TV broadcaster Mediacorp. Both are government-linked organizations.
Straits Times covered the situation on page 3 today (subscription access only, so no link). They say they have been actively engaged with Chinese authorities. Extract:
Mr Ching, 55, first informed the newspaper in a brief telephone call from Beijing on April 28 that he was helping in a probe.
The Straits Times immediately took up the matter with the Chinese authorities. It approached the Chinese embassy in Singapore to find out more about the case, and specifically why he was being detained and for how long.
At the same time, it asked for access to Mr Ching so that ST editors could find out more about the case and his well-being. It also sought to provide legal representation for him and requested consular support for him from the Singapore embassy in Beijing.
Straits Times Editor Han Fook Kwang said yesterday: 'We have been in constant contact with the Chinese authorities throughout the past weeks, trying to get as much information as possible and explore ways to resolve the issue.
'We believed this was the best way of approaching the situation and, at all times, were acting in Ching Cheong's best interests.'
From: ST journalist detained by Beijing authorities, by Chin Oi Ken, Straits Times, May 31, 2005.
That story is subtitled “Chinese embassy says he is helping state security in probe not linked to this paper”. Make of that what you will.
Also from the Straits Times article, a Singapore Foreign Ministry statement with no attribution:“Chinese authorities have not approached us on this and we do not have the full facts of the case.”
The Singapore Ministry for Foreign Affairs full statement on Ching Cheong's detention. Not much more than you see above.
China makes its case
China's Ministry for Foreign Affairs has accused Ching Cheong of being a spy. Extract from the AFP story:
"On April 22 Ching was investigated by relevant Chinese departments for being involved in espionage," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Ching has admitted that in recent years he has been following the instructions of overseas intelligence organisations and has undertaken intelligence collecting activities on mainland China.
"He has collected a large amount of spy fees. China is currently carrying out further investigations on his espionage activities."
From: Detained Singapore Straits Times journalist was a spy: China, AFP, May 31, 2005.
Spy fees? We'll chalk that one up to translation. But watch the language. Beijing essentially considers foreign newspapers “overseas intelligence organizations”, so one may infer that a journalism paycheck constitutes spy fees. Foreign governments are not mentioned, at least in any statement I have seen so far.