At the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Seoul, Korea, attended by more than 1,300 publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives from 82 countries, WAN and the WEF issued a statement calling for the release of Mr Ching, together with that of New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, who was arrested last September on suspicion of "providing state secrets to foreigners."

The WAN and WEF statement said:

"The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, condemn the arrest and detention by Chinese authorities of Singapore Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong and call for his immediate release.

According to reports, Mr Ching, 55, was arrested on 22 April and held for a month before Chinese authorities announced this week he had allegedly confessed to spying for a foreign intelligence agency.

The reports said Mr Ching was arrested in Guangzhou, China, after receiving documents about former Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was purged for opposing the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and who died in January this year.

Ching Cheong, who holds a British (overseas) passport and is a Singapore permanent resident, is the chief China correspondent of the Straits Times, based in Hong Kong. His employer, Singapore Press Holdings, said he has served with distinction as a well-informed correspondent and analyst and that he always conducts himself with utmost professionalism.

Ching Cheong was apparently carrying out his journalistic activities when he was detained. His outrageous arrest constitutes a clear breach of his rights to practice his profession and is a gross violation of numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states that everyone has the right "to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers."

We call on the Chinese authorities to release Ching Cheong immediately and to cease jailing journalists to silence and intimidate them.

We also call on China to release New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, who was arrested in September and charged with revealing state secrets. Chinese authorities reportedly suspect him of leaking news of former President Jiang Zemin’s retirement ahead of an official announcement."

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

The WEF is the organisation for editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.worldeditorsforum.org).

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile in Korea (until 2 June): +82 (0)11 9679 9721. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.