The press freedom organization said it was ¡°absolutely scandalous¡± that China has imprisoned a journalist for trying to inform people around the world about Tiananmen at a moment when the European Union is considering lifting the arms embargo that was imposed after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators.

This shows how forcefully the Chinese Communist Party opposes any democratic opening, Reporters Without Borders said, announcing that it will ask for Shi' s case to be raised at the next EU-China dialogue meeting on 24-25 February in Luxembourg. (boxun.com)

Shi worked for the daily Dangdai Shang Bao (Contemporary Business News), based in the southern province of Hunan. The charges against him, brought to the court by the office of the people¡¯s prosecutor in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, relate to an official document and articles he posted on websites and discussion forums based outside China.

In April 2004, Shi sent the dissident online newspaper Min Zhu Ton Xun the abstract note of a document sent to his newspaper by the authorities warning journalists of the dangers of social destabilisation and risks linked to the return of certain dissidents on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Shi used a pseudonym to post his note, but state security ministry agents identified him thanks to the filters installed on the Chinese Internet. The ministry told the prosecutor the document was ¡°Jue Mi¡± (top secret). Shi¡¯s lawyer, Thomas Guo, says Shi acknowledges sending his note but disputes its confidential nature.

Guo visited Shi on 25 January and he said Shi was in good physical and mental condition. ¡°The law on state secrets is not very clear,¡± he said. ¡°As a result, the interpretation of the concept of so-called secrets is vague. It is therefore very easy for the authorities to use this law against journalists who speak their mind.¡±

Shi is currently held in Changsha after being arrested in Taiyuan in the northeastern province of Shanxi on 24 November. At the time of his arrest, the police told his wife, Wang Huan, not to tell anyone, especially not the news media, or else her husband would be mistreated.

Dissident journalist Yang Tianshui was meanwhile provisionally released on 25 January after being held for a month in Hangzhou, the capital of the southeastern province of Zhejiang. Charged with ¡°inciting subversion of the state,¡± he must remain available to the authorities and live at the home of his sister, who has assumed responsibility for him.

Reporters Without Borders said it was calling for the lifting of all the charges against Yang, whose articles have been posted on the Internet and in the Chinese-language edition of Epoch Times, a daily newspaper published abroad. He recently wrote about the torture of human rights activists and the protection which the authorities have afforded to certain criminals. (boxun.com)