Entry into mainland China In the spring of 2005, he entered
mainland China on a
Home Return Permit, while researching former Communist Party leader,
Zhao Ziyang. On 22 April 2005, he was charged with spying on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency and was arrested in
Guangzhou. The Chinese Foreign Ministry later reported that he had confessed to these accusations. Formal charges were drawn up on 5 August. He was charged with passing state secrets to the
Republic of China (Taiwan) over a period of five years. In particular, he was accused of using money provided by Taiwan to purchase political and military information. He is the first Hong Kong journalist to be charged with spying since the
transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to the PRC in 1997. Cheong's wife Mary Lau said that the charges were 'ludicrous'. She also added that Cheong had apparently fallen victim to
entrapment by an intermediary as he was trying to obtain recordings of secret interviews with the former Prime Minister.
International reaction In June 2005, the
Hong Kong Journalists Association and
Reporters Without Borders organised a petition calling for Cheong's immediate release from unfair detention. The petition, containing more than 13,000 signatures, was sent to
Hu Jintao, then
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and
President of the People's Republic of China. The
International Federation of Journalists and the
Committee to Protect Journalists also protested Cheong's detention. The British Government was also asked to
intervene as Cheong held a
British National (Overseas) passport. During the incident, some tabloids in Hong Kong insinuated that he was spying because he had to earn money for a mistress in China. The supposed mistress went to Hong Kong from China and gave witness that she had no relationship with Cheong. The accusation ceased when a lot of evidence showed that Cheong was innocent. On 12 January 2006, 35 legislative councillors including 10 pro-
Beijing councillors (including three from the
Liberal Party, three from the
DAB, and one from
the Alliance Party) signed an open letter asking the Chinese authorities to release Cheong unless there was sufficient evidence.
Imprisonment and release On 22 February 2006, the prosecutor in charge of Cheong's case decided to send his file back to the
State Security Department for further investigation. The trial was thus delayed for at least one month. Cheong was tried
in camera, found guilty of spying, and was sentenced on 31 August 2006 to five years' imprisonment. The family's statement on the same day stated the verdict was extremely biased, adopting only evidence of the Procuratorate while ignoring almost all defence arguments and Cheong's defence. On 1 September 2006, Cheong's wife reported that her husband had called the verdict "very unfair" and vowed to appeal the sentence. On 5 February 2008, the Chinese government announced that they had released Cheong from prison early, days before the
Chinese New Year holiday. ==See also==