HONG KONG—A HongKong-based journalist jailed by China for almost three years on spying chargessays the former British colony's freedoms have been eroded since the 1997handover to Beijing.
"Hong Kong has made a continual contribution to progress in China for more thana century, even promoting some positive change in China," Ching Cheong,formerly chief China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, said.
“This can be ascribed to the freedom of expression in Hong Kong. However, sincethe handover, the space for different opinions has shrunk, or even disappeared,”he said in an interview.
“This is a potential threat to the traditional values of Hong Kong,” he added.
Ching was handed a five-year jail term by a Guangdong court in August 2006 for allegedlyspying for Taiwan, which he denies. He had been held previously for some 16months.
Tibet protest in Hong Kong
He spoke after aconfrontation between Free Tibet protesters and supporters of the Chinesegovernment during the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong, where some spectators heldlarge Chinese flags and others carried protest signs.
Ching said the temporary detention of Tibet protester Christina Chan,ostensibly a form of protective custody to protect her from an angry pro-Chinamob, was “unfortunate.”
Chan had wrapped the Tibetan snow lion flag around her body and later beganwaving it, drawing obscenities and angry comments from a group ofMandarin-speaking bystanders.
Several onlookers heckled Chan, shouting “What kind of Chinese are you?” and “Whata shame!’ The 21-year-old Chan said, “Why can’t we just respect each other andexpress our views?”
Hong Kong people are outspoken
Ching said that while HongKong people were genuinely patriotic during the passage of the Olympic torchthrough China’s Special Administrative Region, which has been granted a “highdegree of autonomy” and constitutional protection of its basic freedoms, hesaid they wouldn’t hesitate to show dissatisfaction as well.
“The same Hong Kongers will be unhesitant in voicing their discontent on thestreets whenever this is a problem in China,” Ching said, citing ademonstration of more than 1 million people in the territory after the 1989 militarycrackdown pro-democracy protesters.
“In 2003, half a million Hong Kong people went out on the streets, rallyingagainst the legislation in the Hong Kong Basic Law Clause 23 and expressingtheir anger over the limitation of various freedoms in Hong Kong after the 1997handover,” said Ching, who has taken up his work as a journalist again but hasno plans for any reporting trips to China.
‘A passion for Tibet’
Ching, who described himselfas having “a passion for Tibet,” welcomed talks between Chinese officials andrepresentatives of the Dalai Lama after the recent riots and anti-Chinademonstrations in Tibet and Tibetan regions of western China.
“At least the atmosphere of the talks was friendly, and both sides agreed tomeet again,” Ching said. “This is a very good start, and at least they candefuse threats to the Olympics.”
Ching said he saw the mainthreat to Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympics as coming from terrorism andinternational pressure for a boycott.
A call for change
But he also warned theChinese authorities not to imagine that the problem of anti-Chinese feeling inTibet would pass with the death of the exiled spiritual leader.
“China has the wrong idea if it believes that by dragging on until the demiseof the Dalai Lama the Tibet independence movement will end naturally,” saidChing, who made two trips to Tibet during the 1980s.
“I think this is wrong. If the Dalai Lama passed away while in exile, it wouldhurt the feelings of the Tibetan people quite seriously and the hatred wouldpass down from generation to generation,” he said, likening the legacy of Tibetto the Feb. 28, 1949 massacre of Taiwanese civilians by Kuomintang (Nationalist)soldiers.
“I hope the Chinese authorities willimmediately discontinue carrying out this policy as a way to deal with theTibet issue,” he said.
Ching, who is also covering events in Taiwan, said he currently had no plans toreturn to mainland China, and was “very happy” to be back at work.
“Other than that, my life is exactly the same asbefore,” he said.
Original reporting in Mandarin by Xin Yu. RFA Mandarin service director:Jennifer Chou. Translated by Chen Ping. Written for the Web in English byLuisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.