Gao Yu (高瑜), a 71-year-old Chinese journalist who has repeatedly challenged the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during a decades-long career, was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday after a court in Beijing found her guilty of leaking state secrets abroad.
Gao said she would appeal, according to her lawyer and her brother, who were in the courtroom.
The Third Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict nearly five months after Gao stood trial there, a delay that one of her defense lawyers, Mo Shaoping (莫少平), had said was unusual and suggested some indecision about how to handle the case.
Photo: EPA
“This outcome was expected, but we still feel it was wrong not to listen to the defense lawyers’ arguments,” Gao’s younger brother, Gao Wei (高衛), said by telephone after emerging from the court in north Beijing. “I signaled to her and told her to stay well. She said: ‘Don’t worry. I’m going to appeal.’”
Mo confirmed the seven-year prison sentence in a telephone interview.
“She said when she was being led out of the courtroom that she’d definitely appeal,” Mo said.
Gao Yu’s lawyers and supporters have maintained that the charge of leaking state secrets abroad was absurd, even given the Chinese government’s broad definition of “state secrets.”
Mo said that Gao Yu was convicted of disclosing a CCP directive that had already been widely summarized on government Web sites. The directive laid out the party’s plans for an offensive against liberal political ideas and values.
According to Mo, the verdict said that, in July 2013, Gao Yu gave the document to the Mirror Media Group, a Chinese news outlet based in the US. The company, which published the directive, has denied receiving it from her.
“There’s absolutely no basis for the case,” Mirror Media Group chief executive Ho Pin said by telephone from New York after the verdict was announced.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS