In this week's edition of Opinionist, we present to you an excerpt of the speech made by Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong made at the Society of Publishers in Asia's awards dinner on the 19th anniversary of the June 4 incident. The senior writer of the Singapore-based Straits Times was detained by Chinese authorities in April 2005 for over 1,000 days on charges of spying for Taiwan. In this speech, Ching Cheong spoke at length......

In a new interview with Radio Free Asia, Ching Cheong (程翔), chief China correspondent of the Singapore-based Straits Times, who was imprisoned for over 1,000 days on espionage charges and released earlier this year, gave his thoughts on the recent talks between Beijing and Dalai Lama envoys, Taiwan's relations with the mainland and nationalistic fervour among Hong Kongers. On the arrest of Hong Kong student Christina Chan during the Olympic torch relay there, Ching Cheong......

Ching Cheong, the chief China correspondent of the Singapore-based Straits Times that was jailed in China for supposed espionage but freed recently, has made his first statements after his well-deserved rest. He lost more than 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) during the more than 1,000 days that he was in prison. Here are Ching Cheong's quotes, compiled from various news sources quoted below: On his innocence:I have never done anything that endangers national security or harms......

Just three days after Straits Times journalist Ching Cheong regained his freedom, China has released yet another media man — Yu Huafeng (喻华峰), general manager and deputy editor of the Southern Metropolis News《南方都市报》, the Guangzhou-based paper that is one of China's boldest and most critical papers. According to AP, this is the Yu is the third journalist to be freed this month. Li Changqing (李长青), a former writer with Fuzhou Daily《福州日报》, was apparently released on......

We did not think it would happen, but it has. Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong (程翔), chief China correspondent of the Singapore-based Straits Times has been released. This totally unexpected release has come about 3 weeks after his 1000th day of imprisonment. Ching Cheong was said to have been lured into the Guangdong Province while researching former Premier Zhao Ziyang (赵紫阳) and subsequently charged with spying for Taiwan. With Ching Cheong's release, all eyes are......

Since Hu Jia (胡嘉) is currently being charged for inciting subversion behind closed doors, we figured there is no better time than now to show you Prisoners in Freedom City 《自由城的囚徒》, a documentary made by him and his wife, Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), while under a seven-month house arrest from August 2006 to March 2007. As ironic as it may sound, Freedom City is the name of the compound that houses the couple's apartment. This is......

Today marks the 1000th day of the imprisonment of Ching Cheong, the China correspondent of the Singapore-based Straits Times [Ching is a Hong Konger on a British National (Overseas) passport]. That means he has another 825 days of his 5 year sentence for espionage to serve, if Chinese authorities choose to ignore the appeal for medical parole that has been sent in on his behalf. The last time we told you about Ching Cheong, he......

Ching Cheong, the Hong Kong journalist who was chief China correspondent for the Singapore-based Straits Times, is ailing in prison somewhere in the Guangdong province right now. On 22 April 2005, Ching was apprehended by Chinese security agents in Guangzhou, where he was to meet a source who had promised to give him a copy of a politically sensitive manuscript on former premier Zhao Ziyang. It took one and a half years before he was......

From the unreadable without a proxy BBC we find that Lu Jianhua, a scholar with the Chinese academy of social sciences (CASS) has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. The information has yet to be released widely in the media, though we wouldn't be surprised if it got less play than the Ching Cheong case. Ching is the Hong Kong journalist that was arrested and found guilty of state subversion (leaking of state secrets)......

Maybe our new golf course skyscraper won't be called Shanghai Hills after all. "It's like a person can't change his or her name at will without registering with the government," Liu Bo, an official with the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau said. Although the planners would only be fined US$3,750 if they kept the name without permission.Watch out Terracotta Warriors -- Shanghai has plans to open its own "eighth wonder of the world" in 2010.......