China frees reporter, jails activist

(AP) -- A Hong Kong journalist charged with spying for Taiwan was released from prison in mainland China on Tuesday after being detained for nearly three years.

Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong-based correspondent for Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper, declined to speak to reporters after returning home from a prison in the southern city of Guangzhou.

In a handwritten statement, Ching said he was glad to be able to join his family for this week's Lunar New Year -- a holiday as important in China as Christmas is in the West.

"Now, please allow me first to reunite with my family and take a good rest before speaking to everyone," Ching wrote.

The veteran journalist was sentenced to five years in jail in August 2006 on charges of spying for Taiwan. He was detained during a visit to Guangzhou in April 2005 and sentenced in a one-day trial 16 months later. A Chinese court rejected his appeal in November 2006.

Ching, 58, was released on parole because he had served more than half of his five-year term, government-run broadcaster RTHK said.

Ching's release came six months ahead of this summer's Beijing Olympics, which China considers a source of pride. The country has been making efforts to improve its image ahead of the Games.

However, a Chinese court sentenced democracy activist Lu Gengsong on Tuesday to four years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power," a vague charge frequently used to silence whistle-blowers and critics of the ruling Communist Party.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed Ching's release, but said China continues to jail more reporters than any other country.

"We hope that in this coming year in which China will host the Olympic Games, that the government will grant the same freedom to Lu and the 28 other journalists who still remain behind bars," said Bob Dietz, CPJ program coordinator.

The Straits Times also welcomed his "long-awaited release."

"We look forward to meeting him as soon as possible," Deputy Editor Warren Fernandez said in a statement.

Politicians and activists had lobbied for Ching's freedom because of reports from his wife that he was suffering stomach problems, high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat in prison.

China's official Xinhua News Agency had reported that Ching was convicted of selling unspecified "state secrets and intelligence" to a Taiwanese foundation, which it said was a front for Taiwanese espionage activities on the mainland.

Taiwan, which has denied using the foundation for spying, welcomed Ching's release and called for China to lift all restrictions on the media.

"Like Mr. Ching, many other people have been put under surveillance and house arrest or detained clandestinely by Chinese authorities for covering news or for seeking freedoms of speech," said Taiwan's Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, which handles relations with China.

"We urge the international community to push the Chinese authorities to remove their control of news and freedoms of speech at an early date," it said in a statement.

Ching's supporters say there was no real evidence proving he was a spy and that he was targeted for political reasons.

"We firmly believe Mr. Ching Cheong is innocent. We feel sorry he had to be kept behind bars for over 1,000 days," said Fan Ho-tsai, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association.

His wife, Mary Lau, had earlier said Ching may have been targeted because of his ties to a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, who had access to confidential discussions among China's leaders.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 amid civil war. They are believed to conduct extensive intelligence activities against each other. E-mail to a friend

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