Gao Yu, 54, one of China's most prominent journalists, was sentenced to six years in prison on November 10, 1994, for "illegally providing state secrets to institutions outside [China's] borders" in a series of four articles in Mirror Monthly and Overseas Chinese Daily, both Hong Kong-based publications. The "secrets" in question related to policy decisions taken by senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in early 1993, and those decisions had already been reported in the Hong Kong press - including by pro-Beijing papers. Gao Yu's arrest and conviction sent shock waves through media circles in Hong Kong.
President Rupp of Columbia University and Committee to Protect Journalists send an urgent letter to President Clinton asking him to press for Gao Yu's release.
"Leaking State Secrets": The Case of Gao Yu
Summary of July 1995 joint Human Rights in China and Human Rights Watch report on the Trial of Gao Yu. (The full report can be ordered through Human Rights in China.)
Gao Yu
