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Professor back in Taiwan after jail term in China

Taiwanese professor Lin Cheng-cheng (林正成) returned to Taiwan on Sunday following his release after 11 years in a Chinese prison on charges of espionage and was reported by the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying that the Taiwanese government left him to fend for himself during his prison term.

The 58-year-old former dean of the Japanese language department at Tunghai University lamented his time in jail and wondered where the government was when he needed help.

Lin, a native of Pingtung County, was arrested by Chinese police on July 12, 1997, as he was traveling to Beijing to visit friends.

He was thrown in jail after a Chinese court found him guilty of espionage. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released after serving 11 years.

Lin's family said the Taiwanese government provided no help during his imprisonment. Lin's younger brother told local reporters that the Intelligence Bureau had cut all contact with the family after Lin was arrested and refused to offer any help to get him out of jail.

Mainland Council Affairs Deputy Chairman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳), however, said yesterday the government had provided all the necessary help to ensure Lin received a speedy and fair trial.

United Daily News quoted one of Lin's relatives as saying that Lin had agreed to spy for the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in exchange for having his tuition paid for during his study in Japan in the 1980s.

In response, Chang Rong-kung (張榮恭), director of the KMT's Mainland Affairs Department, was quoted by the paper as saying that the KMT government had stopped spying on China in 1991 and denied the party had anything to do with Lin's work there.
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