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SCMP Reporter

HONG KONG reporter Xi Yang, jailed for 12 years, had been given a ''light sentence'' because he admitted guilt and showed repentance, an official mainland news agency said last night.

  Quoting Beijing officials, the Hong Kong China News Agency said Xi, of the Ming Pao newspaper, had ''spied on state financial and economic secrets'' through bank clerk Tian Ye during June and July last year.

  He passed the information to his newspaper for publication, causing serious economic losses to the state, the agency said.

  Xi could have been given a life sentence or even the death penalty, it said.

  But because he had admitted guilt and showed repentance, he was given a light sentence of 12 years, with his political rights stripped for two years.

  Xi had appealed, but the case would not be open because it involved state secrets.

  The officials rejected suggestions that Xi had mistakenly violated the law, insisting that he was not engaged in ''normal reporting''.

  The agency argued that Xi alone had got into trouble although many people went to China on reporting assignments.

  ''This demonstrates that the line between normal reporting and criminal activities of spying and stealing state secrets is clearly drawn,'' it said.

  Beijing had until last night refused to release any information on Xi's case other than his alleged crime and the jail term.

  Hours earlier, Hong Kong officials were accused of adopting a ''passive'' attitude towards China's arrest and jailing of Xi.

  Legislators said a more ''pro-active'' approach should have been taken during the six months since Xi was detained.

  In London, Governor Chris Patten rejected China's claim that the rest of the world had no interest in the Xi case.

   He said: ''If Chinese spokesmen are concerned about getting the Chinese message across they must realise that the rest of the world, and particularly people in Hong Kong, deserve straightforward answers to straightforward questions.''   Legislators said Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd should summon the Chinese ambassador to London, Ma Yuzhen, and issue a protest.

  The United Democrats' Albert Chan Wai-yip asked: ''How come that we did not see the Government expressing a stronger view when one of its citizens has been sent to jail for a period of 12 years in China?   ''We've seen enough examples of other governments protesting against China's expulsion of their reporters. Why are we adopting such an ambivalent attitude on this case? It is really disappointing,'' he said.

  The chairman of the Chinese Press Association, Hue Pue-ying, accused the British Ambassador to Beijing, Sir Robin MacLaren, of shedding responsibility by responding coldly to calls for assistance for Xi.

  ''It is not a matter of whether the case would be politicised, it is the responsibility of the Government to make sure the rights of its residents are properly protected,'' he said.

  Government information co-ordinator Mike Hanson dismissed the accusations.

  The Government had been asking for more information on the case and had requested that Xi be given access to legal consultation through Sir Robin.

  ''The Government is not passive. We work very hard. We try to be discreet,'' said Mr Hanson.

   Two lawyers obtained endorsement from Beijing's Higher People's Court for legal representation yesterday after signing a contract with Xi's family and representatives from the newspaper.



'Repentant' Xi's jail term light, claims China