Media Summary: China's Detention of New York Times Researcher Zhao Yan (updated 21-Oct-04)

October 21, 2004

On October 21 the Chinese language Web site Epoch Times reported that Zhao Yan's lawyer had told a Hong Kong newspaper that Chinese authorities had officially arrested Zhao Yan for disclosing state secrets. According to a New York Times report, Zhao's lawyer said his requests to see Zhao have been rejected, Zhao's family is legally barred from seeing him until the case is resolved, and the notice of Zhao's arrest did not explain what he was accused of doing.

On September 30 Human Rights in China issued a press release (see below) citing a friend of Zhao Yan as saying that Zhao was convinced that state security authorities suspected him of providing information to the New York Times that Jiang Zemin had offered to resign his last major post as chairman of the China's Central Military Commission. HRIC reports that Zhao told this friend and others that the authorities had contacted him twice within three or four days, saying they wanted to meet with him to discuss the article, and that Zhao decided to“disappear” for a while, and left work for several days with his cell phone switched off. According to HRIC's source, after Zhao turned his phone back on, he was tracked down by state security within an hour and detained.

On September 29 Human Rights in China issued a press release (see below) citing unnamed sources as saying Zhao may have been detained to prevent his carrying out a hunger strike for the release of peasant activist Zhang Youren.

On September 28 the Associated Press reported that on Tuesday China had said "outside forces should not interfere" in Zhao's case.

On September 27 a deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department expressed concern in a press briefing about Zhao's case and its implications for journalists working in China. He said the State Department has raised it both with the foreign ministry in China, and in Washington to the Chinese Embassy, and that they are seeking clarification of his status and underscoring the view that the role of a free press is critical in providing information to build a strong civil society.

Also on September 27 Voice of America reported that the New York Times had also complained to Chinese authorities, and that a spokeswoman for the newspaper said that Mr. Zhao had not provided it with any state secrets.

On September 23 the Associated Press reported that the New York Times' foreign editor had said that Zhao Yan went to work for the Times in May, but did no reporting or writing on his own for the newspaper. According to the AP report, a document given to Zhao’s family stated he was suspected of "illegally providing state secrets to foreigners.” AP cited a friend of Zhao's as saying that Zhao had said agents from the Ministry of State Security wanted to question him about an article the New York Times published on September 7 saying Jiang Zemin had offered to resign his last major post as chairman of the China's Central Military Commission.

On September 21 China Labor Watch reported that Zhao Yan, whom the group described as a Chinese advocate of farmers' rights, had been detained on September 16 by police in Shanghai last week on unknown charges.
 

 


 

Human Rights in China Press Release, September 30, 2004

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has received information providing further details on the background of the arrest of journalist Zhao Yan, which exemplifies the pernicious effect of Chinese State Secrets Law as applied to journalists and civil society actors.

At the time of his arrest, Zhao Yan was working as a researcher for the Beijing bureau of the New York Times. Zhao is widely reported to have been detained on suspicion of leaking confidential information relating to Jiang Zemin’s resignation as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. More recently, HRIC received reports that the Chinese authorities also wished to prevent Zhao Yan from staging a hunger strike on behalf of peasant activist Zhang Youren, who is currently suffering serious illness while under residential surveillance.

The most recent information received by HRIC from a source in China provides further details of the intense pressure Zhao Yan experienced following publication of a report in The New York Times that Jiang Zemin had informed Party officials of his intention to resign as chairman of the Central Military Commission. The report was published on September 7, nearly two weeks before the official announcement of Jiang’s resignation on September 19. HRIC’s source quotes two sources he considers reliable as saying that President Hu Jintao personally ordered an investigation into the Times story.

A friend of Zhao Yan told HRIC that Zhao became increasingly convinced that state security authorities suspected him of having leaked the information to the Times. Zhao told this friend and others that the authorities had contacted him twice within three or four days, saying they wanted to meet with him to discuss the article. A source close to the New York Times said Zhao was not in fact the source of the information in the story, or even an active participant in the reporting process. However, Zhao was aware of the substance of the piece before it went to press and may have spoken with others about it. He expressed concern to a friend that state security authorities might associate him with the article in some way.

Zhao’s friend said that Zhao decided to take a vacation from his research position in order to “disappear” for a while, and left work for several days with his cell phone switched off. A friend that Zhao was traveling with in Shanghai said that after Zhao turned his phone back on, he was tracked down by state security within an hour and detained.

A source who has spoken with Zhao’s family says Zhao’s detention notification states that Zhao is in criminal detention under suspicion of leaking state secrets. This source says that since Zhao’s detention, a number of his friends have been interviewed by state security regarding Zhao’s connection to the New York Times and his relationship with Chinese government and military officials.

 


 

中国人权新闻稿
2004 年9 月30 日
胡锦涛亲自下令调查媒体提前报道江泽民辞职消息源,赵岩成中国压制新闻
自由的最新牺牲品。
中国人权从最新的可靠消息来源得知,纽约时报有关江泽民辞职的消息报道
之后,胡锦涛亲自下令调查信息源赵岩因而被捕。为纽约时报驻北京办事处工作的
记者赵岩,虽有世界各媒体进行了广泛报道,但众说纷纭没有确切逮捕原因,现经
可靠消息来源证实,与胡锦涛亲自下令有关,才遭到中国国安部突然逮捕。
赵岩被捕时为纽约时报北京办事处研究员。在2004 年9 月7 日,纽约时报
率先报道了江泽民将要辞去中共中央军委主席一职的消息。报道称江泽民向高层人
士表示了他要辞去军委主席的愿望。江泽民的辞职是在9 月19 日正式公布的。纽
约时报几乎提前了两周报道了江去职的意图,这在中国的中央高层人士变动总是在
保密的情况下进行,人民只有在中共中央自己正式公布以后才知情的封闭社会里,
是极其不正常的。中国人权的消息来源称,根据两个可靠的情报来源,中国国家主
席胡锦涛亲自下令追查纽约时报有关江泽民辞职报道的消息来源。
赵岩的一个朋友告诉中国人权说,赵岩确信国家安全机关已经怀疑他向纽约
时报泄露江泽民将辞职的消息。赵岩告诉他的朋友在三四天之内,安全局的人已经
找了他两次,要和他谈论纽约时报的报道。根据接近纽约时报的消息来源称,赵岩
事实上不是报道此一消息的提供者,也不是报道这一消息的参与者。但是,赵岩在
该报道出版前,的确知道有关的内容,而且还与别人谈论过。赵岩对朋友说,他很
担心国家安全部门会将他同纽约时报的报道联在一起。赵岩的朋友告诉中国人权,
赵岩决定去休假,“消失”一段时间。赵岩于是离开了工作,关掉了手机,到了上
海。但是,赵岩到了上海以后,重新开机不到一个小时,国家安全部门的人就找上
了他,并将他拘留。据接近赵岩家里的消息来源称,赵岩是以泄露国家机密罪而被
刑事拘留的。赵岩被捕后,国安局找了他的许多朋友,问及赵岩和纽约时报的关系
及赵岩与中国军界的联系等。

 

 


 

Human Rights in China Press Release, September 29, 2004

Sources in China have told Human Rights in China (HRIC) that journalist Zhao Yan may have been detained to prevent his carrying out a hunger strike for the release of peasant activist Zhang Youren.

Zhao Yan was arrested in Shanghai on September 16. At the time, he was working as a researcher for the Beijing bureau of the New York Times, and there have been reports that the Chinese authorities suspect Zhao of leaking confidential information prior to the official announcement on September 19 that Jiang Zemin was resigning as Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

However, sources familiar with Zhao Yan said that shortly before his arrest he had approached social activist Yu Meisun to join him in launching a hunger strike to pressure the authorities into releasing Zhang Youren, who was detained on July 6 after leading a group of peasants in Tangshan, Hebei Province in protesting the terms of a massive relocation scheme. Zhang Youren is now being confined to his home under residential surveillance. In his previous capacity as a journalist for China Reform magazine, Zhao Yan had written many articles on peasant rights, and earlier this year he had joined with Yu Meisun and others to distribute a petition signed by more than 17,000 Tangshan villagers calling for the removal of a local official suspected of having misappropriated funds earmarked as compensation for the loss of their farmland.

Zhao Yan and others assisting the peasant protesters have come under increasing pressure since Zhang Youren’s detention. In the meantime, Zhang Youren is reported to be almost blind with glaucoma after a worsening of his diabetic condition, and because of his inability to have contact with others under the terms of his residential surveillance he has been unable to obtain medical treatment. Upon learning of Zhang Youren’s situation, Zhao Yan approached Yu Meisun a number of times urging him to joint in a hunger strike calling for the release of Zhang Youren and another detained peasant activist, Wu Zhongkai. Zhao Yan initially planned to begin the hunger strike in Beijing after the annual plenary session of China’s Central Committee this month, and had told friends on September 10 that he would begin the hunger strike on his own even if Yu Meisun declined to participate. Sources say word of Zhao Yan’s plans quickly spread, and may have prompted Public Security police to detain Zhao Yan while the Central Committee session was still in progress.

According to a friend of Zhao Yan, Zhao had picked up signs that he was under surveillance in Shanghai over the previous two days before his arrest. The friend said that Zhao Yan was detained around 9:00 in the evening of September 16 while he was having dinner with this friend at the Yaohan Shopping Center in Pudong. Two men approached Zhao Yan, identified themselves as Shanghai State Security Bureau officers, and presented him with some kind of written notice that the friend was unable to read. Soon afterward around a dozen men in plain clothes led Zhao Yan away, while the friend was taken to a sedan and driven to a safe house in Pudong. There the friend was subjected to a lengthy interrogation, during which police said that Zhao Yan had lied and was not really working for the New York Times. The friend was forced to surrender property belonging to Zhao Yan. The next day, police led the friend to a detention center near Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport. There the friend saw Zhao Yan looking exhausted and accompanied by a senior official from the Beijing State Security Bureau. Zhao Yan is now believed to be held in the Beijing State Security Bureau Detention Center in the Dahongmen area.

 

 


 

中国人权新闻稿
2004 年9 月29 日

赵岩准备公开绝食救援维权农民领袖张友仁之前被捕,知情人士表示这可能
是国家安全局抓捕赵岩的真实原因。

国内知情人士就纽约时报北京分社研究员赵岩被捕一事,向中国人权介绍了
他被捕的经过和相关情况。其中有关赵岩被捕的真实原因,知情人士认为是赵岩要
公开在北京绝食,抗议唐山市警方囚禁病入膏肓的维权农民领袖张友仁,并以此向
中央政府进谏解决农民被强占土地和强行拆迁问题。张友仁是唐山市2 万多移民的
维权代表,并且在赵岩、俞梅荪等帮助弱势团体人士的协助下,发起了万人签名的
罢免唐山市主要官员的运动。张友仁因此遭到唐山市警方的追捕关押。目前身患糖
尿病晚期的张友仁,眼底严重出血左眼失明随时有生命危险,却被当地警方24 小
时严密看管难以医疗。深感负有救援张友仁义务的赵岩对此心急如焚,多次邀请俞
梅荪一起绝食援救张友仁,并选定在中共十六届四中全会之后,在北京的中华世纪
坛公开绝食。心急的赵岩在9 月10 日已向朋友们宣布,即使俞梅荪不参加单只自
己一个人,也会准时为张友仁和被押的福建维权领袖吴中凯绝食抗争。知情人士表
示这一消息扩散后显然会被安全局得知,这可能就是赵岩在中共十六届四中全会召
开时突然被捕的真正原因。中国警方设法诬陷赵岩已经多次发生,例如吴中凯在今
年7 月8 日电话通知北京关注农民问题的社会学家张耀杰,当地警方逼迫他诬陷赵
岩是罪犯并提供揭发材料,他因为不能屈从警方提供诬陷赵岩的材料的要求,不得
不离家逃亡处境危险,之后不久果然被警方抓捕关押至今。

赵岩是9 月16 日晚上9 时许,与一个朋友在上海浦东八百伴商厦吃饭,竟
然在饭中吃出蟑螂来,去与餐馆理论中突然被捕的。同行的朋友跟随前去看到二个
便衣向赵岩出示一张通知书,但是未能看清是拘留通知书或逮捕通知书,这二位便
衣自称是上海市国家安全局的。之后赵岩被十多名便衣带走,这位朋友则被带上轿
车开到浦东一处建筑物。这位朋友遭到警方的深夜突击审讯,警方说赵岩不是纽约
时报的记者而是骗子,并逼迫这位朋友交出赵岩的一切物品。第二天警方带这位朋
友在虹桥机场附近看守所见到赵岩,与北京市国家安全局一个处长在一起的赵岩十
分疲惫,显然过去的一个夜晚没有能够休息。赵岩在被捕之前已经怀疑遭到警方跟
踪,而且他们的睡房两天早起都发现未锁虚掩着,只是由于门内上着链条而没有被
打开。据估计,赵岩目前关押在北京国家安全局看守所,那里是北京大红门区域。
赵岩原是《中国改革》杂志社新闻部主任,他在采访农民的问题中,看到大
量的政府官员无法无天侵犯掠夺农民权益,作为一个有良知正义感的记者,他不顾
个人安危投入了忘我的精力、智慧和时间,写出第一手翔实的农民无助困境的真实
情况。河北省唐山市、秦皇岛市,四川省自贡市,福建省宁德市,这四市数以十万
计的农民被强占土地、强制拆迁,财产权利和人身权利遭受严重侵犯剥夺,能将这
些情况向国内外报道并引起高度关注,就是由于赵岩率先开始这工作并大力推动的
结果。在农民起而维权反遭监控、抓捕、毒打甚至劳教折磨的情况下,又是赵岩首
先支持帮助这些农民,依照法律万人联署罢免那些肆无忌惮侵掠农民的官员,并且
取得了各方关注和重视的成效。赵岩维护农民权益所做的不懈努力,惊动了高层,
例如河北省委书记白克明,专门就抓捕农民和克扣补偿款项作了批示,从而为多达
1 万7 千余唐山农民,每人争取到1745 元的补偿费用,虽然还远远不够规定的补
偿数,已经是一个难得的成果。再如向赵岩等人讲述情况的51 岁农妇王贵娥,被
当地公安局因此而判处劳教一年,也是赵岩等人的持续交涉而提前8 个月得到释
放。但是赵岩本人却因为维护弱势农民,成了一些政府部门必欲除之的眼中钉,并
且屡屡遭受各种迫害歧视。例如福建省福州市闽侯县青口镇的9 名党委常委,每人
自掏腰包出资3 万元凑集27 万元,拿到北京走后门迫使《中国改革》杂志将赵岩
除名。而警察则闯入赵岩哈尔滨的老家,将重病在床的赵岩父亲吓得跌到床下,致
使病情骤变死于非命。赵岩的妻子也早已离异。