China upholds guilty verdict on journalist Ching

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Nov 24: A Chinese court today upheld a guilty verdict against a Hong Kong-based Singapore newspaper reporter jailed for spying in a case that has drawn fire from rights groups and foreign legal experts.

Straits Times journalist Ching Cheong was detained in April 2005 in southern China and sentenced in Beijing this August to five years' jail after being convicted of spying for Taiwan, the self-ruled island over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

Ching was denied a second hearing and today the official Xinhua news agency said Beijing's Higher People's Court had rejected his appeal and ruled the August decision ''a correct application of the law and provided appropriate punishment''.

''We, the family, feel extremely disappointed that the court upheld the original verdict, and also shocked,'' Ching's brother, Ching Hai, said outside the court.

''Many parts of the verdict in the first instance have gaps and many parts are far-fetched. In somewhere like Hong Kong, where the legal system is mature, it would not stand at all.'' The state had ignored fairness and Ching's rights, he said, and the family would continue to seek justice.

Chinese state media said Ching had admitted to espionage but, in his defence, Ching said he had never given documents containing state secrets to the Taiwan foundation he was convicted of dealing with, Hong Kong Cable TV reported.

Ching's wife originally said he had gone to southern China to collect documents relating to disgraced former Chinese Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang.

''ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS''

Ching, in a statement read out by his sister, asked the central government to consider waiving the sentence, taking into account the ''one country, two systems'' framework under which Hong Kong, a former British colony, had reverted to China in 1997.

Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, said the ruling did not bode well for the protection of human rights in China and betrayed serious flaws in the legal system.

''This is a clear case of a very defective legal system in which the suspect has to prove his innocence,'' he said.

''As far as we can see, the Chinese authorities ... have been insistent on convicting him, despite the weak evidence and outcry in Hong Kong and in the international community.'' Singapore Press Holdings, which owns the Straits Times, was also unhappy with the verdict.

''We are disappointed that Ching Cheong's appeal has been unsuccessful. As he is still not in the best of health, we appeal to the Chinese authorities to show him leniency and compassion while he is serving his sentence,'' it said in a statement.

In August, the court also deprived Ching of his political rights for a year and confiscated property worth 37,700 dollars.

China is the world's leading jailer of journalists, with at least 32 in custody and another 50 Internet campaigners also in prison, according to advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

Ching, like many Hong Kong residents, holds a passport of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as well as a British National (Overseas) passport.

He is a permanent resident of Singapore.

REUTERS