Ching Cheong (
"The whole thing doesn't have anything to do with Taiwan," council Vice Chairman Michael You (
China's foreign ministry said on May 31 that Ching, a reporter for Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, was arrested for working for "foreign intelligence agencies and accepted large amounts of spying fees."
The Hong Kong-based Standard newspaper said on Wednesday that China appears to imply that Ching works for Taiwan.
China's foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on You's statement at a regular press briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, saying only journalists working in China are responsible for knowing its laws.
"The journalists must have professional ethics and standards, and that includes knowing China's laws on national secrets," ministry spokesman Kong Quan (孔泉) said. "Anyone who violates the law will be punished."
Kong said there are 480 accredited foreign journalists working in China, and the country hosts more than 5,000 visiting journalists a year.
"China welcomes all journalists, even those who do not write good news about China," Kong said. "But we do not tolerate those who break the law."
China, with 42 journalists in prison as of Dec. 31, was the leading jailer of journalists for a sixth straight year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
A Japanese space rocket carrying a Taiwanese satellite blasted off yesterday, but was later seen spiraling downward in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by the Japanese start-up Space One to become the country’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after its first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time, its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had been carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures. Spectators gathered near the company’s coastal Spaceport Kii launch pad in Japan’s
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