Mainland woman also denies being the bait used in arrest of spy-case journalist
A mainland woman who was detained over the publication of a book on the late Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang has denied reports she is the mistress of Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong and played a part in his arrest.
Huang Wei, a former editor with Shenzhen's Sun Fung Publishing company, which published the book last year, said last night that she and Ching were just 'very ordinary friends'.
'The reports are purely fabricated and groundless. They are unfair to Mr Ching and have caused harm to me,' Ms Huang said. 'Mr Ching is a very good man. I hope the media will not hurt him again.'
Some Chinese-language media quoted unidentified mainland sources in the past few days as saying Ms Huang was Ching's mistress and that the journalist became involved in espionage because he needed money to keep a mistress.
The reports said Ching, the Hong Kong-based China correspondent for Singapore's The Straits Times, had been travelling to Shenzhen for secret meetings with Ms Huang. They said state security officials used her as bait to arrest Ching, ordering her to phone him in April to meet her in Shenzhen.