China to Indict N.Y. Times Researcher

From the Washington Post:

The Chinese government has decided to indict a researcher in the New York Times Beijing bureau on charges of fraud and revealing state secrets to foreigners, his lawyers said Friday.
The indictment signified a decision by prosecutors to proceed with a trial of the researcher, Zhao Yan, after 15 months of investigation by the State Security Ministry during which Zhao has remained in custody. In Chinese courts, the overwhelming majority of those brought to trial are convicted. Zhao's lawyer, Mo Shaoting, said the trial likely would be held within six weeks. Zhao's name was included on a list of imprisoned Chinese whose cases have drawn high-level U.S interest that was handed to President Hu Jintao during a meeting between Hu and President Bush last September on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly. The decision to indict Zhao, conveyed to Mo's law firm Friday, signaled that Hu has chosen not to heed Bush's expression of concern.
Zhao was charged with revealing state security secrets to foreigners soon after the Times published a story Sept. 7, 2004, predicting that former president Jiang Zemin would retire from his key post as head of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission. Conviction on such charges can lead to prison terms of 10 years. The fraud charge was added later.


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Update: 12/24/05 read about another detention in China: Chinese Hold Protest Leader, Land Activist

--Tom Hayes