A Chinese Journalist in Jail

Editorial - The New York Times - March 24, 2006

As China moves ahead steadily in the global marketplace, its ultimate success will depend not just on its buying power. Among other things, China must have a free press and a judicial system based on the rule of law rather than political power. One highly public test of both will be whether the Chinese authorities release Zhao Yan, who has been in jail for nearly 18 months on specious charges that he revealed state secrets to The New York Times.

Last week, the authorities appeared to withdraw the charges against Mr. Zhao, who is a researcher for the Times staff in China. But instead of releasing him quickly, as should have been the case, the Chinese government has been sending distressingly mixed signals about the status of Mr. Zhao. And he remains languishing in a Beijing jail.

Mr. Zhao, 44, is a seasoned journalist who was well known for covering rural issues before he joined the Times bureau in April 2004. He was arrested shortly after The Times published an article in September of that year predicting, correctly, that the former president, Jiang Zemin, would retire from his last official post.

The release of such information should not be a reason to jail any journalist anywhere, of course. But in any case, Mr. Zhao has denied that he gave the story to his colleagues, and Times editors have repeatedly assured the Chinese authorities that Mr. Zhao was not a source for the information about Mr. Jiang's retirement.

Mr. Zhao is not the only journalist unjustly jailed in China, and it is fair to say that our concern is heightened by his association with The Times. But his arrest shows how China can too easily use the courts to silence any journalist who crosses some unseen line of behavior and offends some unnamed person in power. It is an example of the government's need for a scapegoat when coverage about high officials or the Communist Party does not turn out as the leadership would have scripted it.

The United States authorities have taken up Mr. Zhao's cause. Most recently, the United States Embassy in Bejing issued a statement reiterating that he was wrongly arrested and indicted.

By now, it should be clear to the Chinese authorities that American leaders and the international news media are not going to forget this case. Mr. Zhao's plight should remain on the agenda for President Hu Jintao's first official visit to Washington next month. A better outcome would be for China to follow up on the withdrawal of the charges against Mr. Zhao and releasing him immediately.