With all of the distractions in my life and work of late, please forgive me for not posting the short article below sooner. It is from The New York Times and regular readers of these pages will understand that it needs no comment from me.
PARIS, Dec. 7 - Zhao Yan, a researcher for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times who has been imprisoned in China for more than a year, was named journalist of the year on Wednesday by the international press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
Mr. Zhao, 43, was arrested in Shanghai on Sept. 17, 2004, and accused of leaking state secrets to The Times. He is being held in Beijing and has not yet had a court hearing.
The accusation, which Mr. Zhao and The Times deny, came 10 days after the publication of an article in The Times saying that Jiang Zemin, the former president, had offered to give up his last leadership position. Mr. Jiang retired on Sept. 19. The Times has denied that Mr. Zhao provided that information.
When President Bush visited China in November, Mr. Zhao was included in a list of human rights cases that were considered of particular concern to the United States.
In its citation about the choice of Mr. Zhao for the award, Reporters Without Borders said, "As a journalist engaged in denouncing corruption in rural areas, Zhao Yan was the ideal victim for the secret services."