By Emily Lau

One of Hong Kong’s most outspoken and popular politicians, Emily Lau leads The Frontier party.

On December 13, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (Legco) passed a motion calling for the release from prison on the Chinese mainland of Ching Cheong, a correspondent for the Singapore newspaper, The Straits Times. Three weeks earlier, the Beijing Higher People’s Court had rejected an appeal by Mr Ching against his conviction for spying.

A seasoned and respected journalist, Mr Ching was detained in Guangdong on April 22, 2005, and formally charged in August 2006 with spying for Taiwan. A closed hearing on August 31 in the court of first instance in Beijing found him guilty. All along, Mr Ching, his family and supporters have insisted he’s innocent. Many Hong Kong people don’t believe he’s a spy.

On December 20, the news media reported that Lu Jianhua, a mainland academic arrested last year in connection with the Ching spying case, secretly was jailed for 20 years for leaking state secrets. Mr Lu’s wife, Madam Qu Liqiu, learned of the Beijing court’s sentence only when she called to confirm the news reports.

Although the Beijing higher court’s decision about Mr Ching came as no surprise, it triggered consternation and dismay. To his family and friends, it dealt a devastating blow. For people wanting to believe that China’s legal and judicial system is improving, it caused bitter disappointment.

The sentence handed down to Mr Lu, a 46-year-old sociologist, is unusually harsh. Evidently, Beijing wants to send a strong signal to the people.

Legco attempted to show unified support for Mr Ching while pressing the Hong Kong chief executive, Donald Tsang, to help secure an early release. The local administration has been criticised for being too passive on the excuse that it could do little under “one country, two systems”. Legislators teamed up in pressing for Mr Ching’s early release on humanitarian grounds due to his deteriorating health.

The jailings had a chilling effect on Hong Kong journalism while casting long shadows over the academic and research communities. People who conduct research on the Chinese mainland worry that they could be trapped on the same minefield. This may lead to even more self-censorship, as Beijing probably wants.

These cases utterly disappoint the people keen to believe that under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the Chinese government has cultivated more respect for the rule of law, and that the country is becoming more open, fair and just. The outcome of Mr Ching’s appeal appears as unconvincing as the lower court’s verdict.

Although the court judgment on Mr Ching was never published on the grounds that it held state secrets, a copy has circulated on the Internet. Allegedly, Mr Ching contributed articles to Taiwan’s Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies and received HK$300,000 in research fees. Prosecutors called the foundation a spy agency.

Mr Ching mounted a defence that he had no such knowledge. The prosecution produced no evidence to show that the foundation was a spy agency. Instead, Mr Ching was convicted on the basis of affirmation by the National Security Bureau and other authorities that information in his articles involved what they deemed as state secrets and that the foundation was considered a spy organisation.

Ironically, the National Security Bureau was part of the prosecution, yet the courts accepted its affirmation without hesitation and failed to allow Mr Ching to challenge the claims. Considering such behavior, what hope exists for judicial independence?

Although the judicial avenue for appeal is exhausted, Mr Ching’s family and supporters refuse to abandon their attempts to prove his innocence. If he isn’t released, the family hopes he can serve his prison sentence in Guangdong Province rather than in Beijing because of the warmer climate and more convenient family visits.

In recent years, President Hu and Premier Wen have tried to convince the international community that Beijing respects human rights and the rule of law and that the judicial system is becoming more independent and fair.

Jailings of Mr Ching and Mr Lu, with the ensuing strong reactions in Hong Kong and overseas, expose the claims by the Beijing leaders as hollow and unconvincing. It’s a disgrace for Beijing to treat respected journalists and innocent academics in such a barbaric way.

Evidence mounts that if China wishes to become a respected and civilised member of the international community, it still has a long, long way to go.

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