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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
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CHINA: STATE SECRETS -- A PRETEXT FOR REPRESSION

Since 1989 dozens of people, including prisoners of
conscience, have been detained in the People's Republic of
China (PRC) on charges relating to ~state secrets~. At least
14 people remain imprisoned on such charges. Others have been
released but are still on bail awaiting trial on appeal.
Amnesty International believes that the Chinese authorities
are using legislation on state secrets to repress fundamental
freedoms.

      The meaning given to the term ~state secrets~ by the
authorities is very broad. It encompasses matters which would
be the subject of public scrutiny in other countries and goes
far beyond what is needed to protect national security. Among
the issues which are classified as state secrets, for
example, are national statistics on the number of people
sentenced to death and executed every year. Virtually
anything can be classified as a state secret if the
authorities so decide.

      The Chinese government has passed a series of laws and
regulations relating to the protection of state secrets and
state security in recent years. These laws are used to try to
tighten control over information circulating within China and
contacts with foreigners, as well as to prevent dissemination
abroad of information judged to be politically sensitive.
Amnesty International believes this to be a retrograde step
by the authorities after a loosening of control over
information following the launch of economic reforms in the
1980s.

      Journalists and other people who either worked for,
wrote articles for or provided information to the foreign
media, mainly the Hong Kong press, have been detained for
divulging alleged state secrets. These arrests have been
interpreted by Hong Kong journalists as an attempt to draw
them into self-censorship ahead of the 1997 reintegration of
Hong Kong into the PRC.

      Amnesty International believes that the state secrets
legislation in China has been used to arbitrarily imprison
people, many of them prisoners of conscience, and that
prosecutions and sentencing are politically motivated. The
law has been used to stifle legitimate political debate and
restrict freedom of expression, by the intimidation and
imprisonment of human rights defenders and journalists, and
the suppression of trade union rights.

      Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese
authorities to review and amend this legislation to bring it
in line with international standards. In particular, the
organization is urging the government to ensure that the
legislation recognizes the legitimate right of all people to
gather and impart information, including journalists in the
course of their work, and freely express their
conscientiously held beliefs; allows public debate on matters
of public interest, the disclosure of which cannot be shown
to jeopardize national security and allows freedom of
association, including participation in foreign or
international organizations.



Among the cases featured in the report are:
Xi Yang, a reporter for the Ming Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper,
who was sentenced in 1994 to 12 years~ imprisonment for
having published an article information on China~s financial
plans. The Chinese authorities condemned him for practices
they do not recognize as ~normal~ journalism.

Bao Tong was a member of the CCP Central Committee and
Director of the CCP Central Committee Research Centre for
Reform of the Political Structure. He resigned shortly before
the imposition of martial law in Beijing in May 1989, and was
detained the same month. In January 1992, he was charged with
~leaking important state secrets~ and ~counter-revolutionary
propaganda and agitation~. His detention is reported to be
based on private conversations he held on the political
situation prior to June 1989. He is currently serving a seven
year sentence followed by two years~ deprivation of political
rights, and is reported to be seriously ill. Amnesty
International believes his sentence to be an act of political
retribution.

Gao Yu, who is currently serving a six year prison sentence
for ~leaking state secrets~. She had published various
documents which the authorities claimed included ~state
secrets~ - although the information in one of these documents
had already been published in a Hong Kong newspaper, and
another was a speech by Jiang Zemin. Gao Yu was brought to
trial three times in 1994. Each time the court found the
evidence against her ~still needed to be verified~, however,
the high court upheld her conviction.
                                                fax.: 44 171
413 5815/5835

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