Human Rights in China (HRIC) is deeply troubled by the sentence imposed on Ching Cheong today. “In light of China’s clear record of politicized prosecutions, and lack of judicial independence and transparency, HRIC has serious concerns about the fairness of the whole proceedings," said Sharon Hom, HRIC’s executive director. “Coming close on the heels of the sentences announced for Zhao Yan and Chen Guangcheng, this sentence also sends a chilling message to journalists, lawyers and other rights defenders.”

A permanent resident of Hong Kong and Singapore, Ching Cheong, 56, worked for Wen Wei Po, a pro-Beijing newspaper in Hong Kong, for many years before resigning in protest after the official crack-down on protesters at Tiananmen Square in June 1989. He was working as chief China correspondent for Singapore’s Straits Times when he was detained in a Guangzhou hotel on April 22, 2005. Ching’s wife, Mary Lau, said Ching had gone to China to collect documents relating to former Chinese Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang, who died in January 2005.

On August 5, 2005, the Chinese authorities announced that they had formally charged Ching with buying information and passing it to Taiwan’s intelligence services from 2000 to March 2005. Ching’s family and friends have consistently denied the charges, and petitions calling for Ching’s release have been signed by journalists worldwide, as well as by members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.

Ching Cheong’s case highlights issues of procedural fairness that surround prosecutions and trials involving state security. The hampering of defense counsel’s access to evidence and the lack of transparency in the proceedings leave real doubts that Ching Cheong and other defendants charged with similar crimes can receive a fair trial under China’s present judicial system.

Following close on the heels of the imprisonment of journalist Zhao Yan and rights defense lawyer Chen Guangcheng, Ching Cheong’s sentence is yet another signal of the Chinese authorities’ determination to maintain social and political control, especially in the run-up to the 17^th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party next year, and in the final count-down to the Olympics.

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