BEIJING — China announced today that it had formally arrested a veteran Hong Kong journalist on charges of spying for Taiwan in a case closely watched in Hong Kong.
The official New China News Agency said Ching Cheong, detained by mainland authorities since April, "followed the instructions of the Taiwan intelligence and set up a number of channels for espionage in both Hong Kong and the island" between 2000 and March 2005. It termed Ching's actions "detrimental to the national security."
His wife, Mary Lau, could not be reached for comment.
Ching, 55, a well-respected reporter for Singapore's Straits Times, had been seized by police in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Supporters and his wife say he was on a reporting trip to obtain documents about former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang. The late Zhao was discredited by Beijing for his support of students in the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising.
Beijing says Ching was on a spying mission. The news agency said he was recruited by Taiwan's National Security Bureau in 2000.
Under the name Chen Yuanchun, the agency added, Ching bought information about China's political, economic and "especially military affairs, including some classified as 'top-secret' or 'confidential,' and passed it to the Taiwan intelligence." It said he was paid "several million Hong Kong dollars" for his work.
China frequently levels spy and national security charges against critics or those who politically threaten or embarrass the regime. If indicted and convicted, Ching could face the death penalty.
Analysts said the charges and strong wording reflected Beijing's desire to save face given the criticism Ching's detention had engendered, even among ordinarily pro-Beijing residents of Hong Kong.
"Chinese authorities certainly feel the need to justify Ching's detention, arrest and prosecution," said Joseph Cheng, a professor with the City University of Hong Kong, who has known Ching for 25 years.
"They want to answer to the Hong Kong community and media that they made no mistakes."
The gravity of the charges suggest that Ching could receive a long prison sentence. Supporters are hoping, however, that he might be released and deported after the initial furor dies down, as Beijing has sometimes done in the past. The news agency did not say what the next step in the case would be.
International media watchdog groups said Friday's disclosure does not augur well for the future of democracy or more open debate in China.
