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Friday, September 01, 2006

WOW Hits The Big Time In London, But On A Sad Note Indeed

7:15 PM

Except for most of this past Wednesday, I have been in a pretty dark mood of late, not the least of which was caused by the apparent, shameful end of the Zhao Yan case almost a week ago. Oh, I have tried bucking myself up by saying that his being acquitted on the Stealing State Secrets charge, a truly horrendous accusation that could have put him away for a very, very long time, if not even for life, and that the three years he was sentenced to on being convicted of the absolutely bogus charge of fraud, was perhaps the best worst end of his now two-year long ordeal. But there are precious few "moral victories" or "best deals" when the issue is imprisonment in China.

Regular readers of these pages know how much attention we have paid to Mr. Zhao's unjust arrest and detainment; regular readers also know that WOW, the blogzine produced by the journalism students at BFSU, published one of the best series of op-ed pieces on the case, written by then sophomore college students majoring in English language, western-style journalism. The faculty of the Department of Journalism and International Communications within BFSU's School of English and International Studies has taken great pride in that series.

Well, this week the faculty's sense of pride and humility in a job well-done received a rather large booster shot from The Times of London's Online Edition, which we excerpt below. We are very grateful to whomever tipped The Times off to the series and for Ms. Jane Macartney following up on it--thank you.

Seek Truth From Facts

What about Mr Zhao? The researcher for the New York Times bureau in Beijing has been in detention and under investigation for two years -- primarily on suspicion of stealing state secrets. A Beijing court cleared him of that capital offence, but found him guilty of fraud involving a sum of about 1,200 pounds and sentenced him for three years.

Is it coincidence that another 32 journalists, at least, are now serving jail terms in China for criminal offences?

WOW, or We Observe the World, an online news magazine produced by Chinese students of journalism had engaged in a fascinating discussion of the case. It offers different perspectives from those of the foreign media that are well worth reading. This was not a case that received coverage in the domestic, state-owned media.

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4 Comments:

How do you know that the charge against Zhao on fraud was "an absolutely bogus charge of fraud"?

Are you now an expert on the Chinese legal system?

By Anonymous, at 12:06 PM

Far more so than you are. Criminal justice IS my area of expertise! I know far more about this case than I will ever be able to report.

Please just go away.

Joseph Bosco

By Joseph, at 1:01 PM

I am glad that we get mentioned again. Just a few hours ago I've also found that my piece was linked to in FAO's Education for rural people(ERP)news summary:) See the middle of the page:http://www.fao.org/SD/ERP/erparticlespress10_en.htm

By lianne, at 5:11 PM

Dear Lianne,

I found it, great catch, thank you. It is a nice mention indeed!

Sincerely,

Joseph Bosco

By Joseph, at 5:38 PM