President Hu Jin Tao
The People's Republic of China
c/o Ambassador Zhou Wen Zhong
The Chinese Embassy in the United States of America
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008 October 6, 2006
Dear President Hu,
On the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we extend our
heartfelt greetings to you, your lovely family and your
outstanding administration. The undersigned are a group
of Chinese-American professionals residing in North America
and would like to express our deepest concern with regards
to the Beijing Intermediate Court's recent verdict on Ching
Cheong [Cheng Xiang], a Hong Kong journalist/commentator
of The Singapore Strait Times.
By legal definition of "crimes of espionage",
a defendant of espionage should have been charged for providing
espionage services to another foreign country under a separated
sovereignty. Therefore, Mr. Ching's current conviction
of crimes for espionage would easily be misinterpreted
as the People's Republic of China's official recognition
of Taiwan being an independent entity under separated sovereignty.
Now in front of the secessionists' continuous propaganda
on Mr. Ching's conviction, we earnestly request you to
pay earliest attention to an extremely sensitive issue
on the sovereignty of Taiwan province.
According to the Beijing Court's judgment statement released
over the internet, Ching Cheong has been convicted of crimes
of espionage mainly based on the findings that:
1) Ching had received payment, with records dated at his
personal computer, from Taiwan's Foundation of International & Cross
Straits Studies at a total around RMB $310,000.
2) Ching had paid certain monies to Lu Jian Hua of The
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and others in the form
of "checks".
3) Ching retained written receipts from Lu and others.
4) Ching had been allegedly using information structured
upon some confidential materials provided by Lu and others
to rewrite articles on his own for such Foundation's publication.
Our examination of these charges reveals serious contradictions.
We do learn from a basic study of contemporary history
that there exist certain universal characteristics for
the espionage activity:
1) Everything must be done with a conscientious effort for leaving no trademark,
i.e. any contacts must be accomplished only with cash payment with no records.
2) Payment would be confined to a limited commodity, i.e. materials from information
sources that are solely presented in the form of an original, authentic document
with no editing/summary.
These commonly recognized characteristics of espionage diverge significantly
from the accusations leveled at Mr. Ching. In addition, prior to the court trial
with an official indictment be issued, one China Foreign Affairs Ministry's spokesperson
and the Xin Hua News Agency respectively, in 2005, released exaggerated press
statements claiming that Mr. Ching had received many millions of dollars of unlawful
payment. Moreover, it could be justified that these kinds of exaggerated press
releases from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Xin Hua News Agency would
have already violated the laws for committing obstruction of justice according
to the international judicial standard.
Ching's case leads us recall another patriotic Hong Kong professional's saddening
story in 1983. Hanson Wong [WANG Xian], a Harvard University trained attorney,
was sentenced for fifteen years for committing crimes of espionage in China.
Eventually in 1989, the Justice Ministry acquitted Wong's conviction. What a
heartbroken tragedy!
So monumental was your distinguished statesmanship leading to two ice-breaking
meetings with opposing political party leaders from Taipei last year. However,
we would like to share with you that a well-adjusted judicial system will lay
an essential foundation to China's solid infrastructure, furthering our mutually
desired goal of moving towards a peaceful and unified two-shore-one-China perspective.
We look forward to a prompt advisement in this issue at your discretion.
Respectfully yours,
TAM Yue Him, Ph.D. (Professor of Macalester College)
MA Tai Loi, Ph.D. (Princeton University East Asian Library Director)
Winston CHAN, Ph.D. (Information Industry Executive, DC)
Frankie LEUNG, J.D. (former lecturer of law, Stanford University)
Nathan TSUI, D.D.S.(Dentist, VA)
Raymond YEUNG, M.B.A. (Investment Industry Executive, NY)
Paul Ho CHAN, Ph.D. (Senior Vice President, Caelum Research Corp.)
Betty LEUNG, M.P.A. (Asian Chair for Labor Union Women Coalition)
CHEUNG Siu Ying (23-25 UNITEHERE Education Director)
Katie CY HO, M.S.S. (NY State Senate Community Liaison)
LEUNG Chung Lam, M.D. (Orthopaedic Surgeon, Delta Medical Group)
Coordinator: CHAN Wing Chi, M.M. (Green Mountain College Adjunct Professor)
cc: Mr. Yip Kwok Wah
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