As Ching gets to walk free another reporter enters into a jail cell. A four year sentence was handed down in the case of cyber-dissident Lu Gengsong for “inciting subversion of state power.”
Ching is reported to be back in Hong Kong.
“We are delighted at the news of Ching Cheong’s parole and long-awaited release,” said a spokesman for Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times.
“We are very happy that he will be reunited with his wife and family for Chinese New Year. We look forward to meeting him as soon as possible.”
His wife Mary Lau had been campaigning for the release of her husband on medical grounds.
Ching was born in mainland China but gained his citizenship with Hong Kong when it was still a British colony.
From 1982 until 1989 he was stationed in Beijing as a reporter with pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po newspaper. He stepped down from his position over the brutal Tiananmen pro-democracy movement that took place June 4, 1989.
Back in Hong Kong he set up Commentary, a magazine that featured in depth articles on Chinese politics. In 1996 he joined The Straits Times. He was a Taiwan correspondent when he took on the position.
There remains at least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents in Chinese jails for work that angered the authorities.
“There are still many people who are put under surveillance or house arrest or are arrested by Chinese authorities because of reporting news or fighting for freedom of the speech like Mr. Ching and they need the attention of the international community,” said the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top policy-making body on China.
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