A Hong Kong journalist returned home today after spending two years in a Chinese jail on charges of spying, in a gesture by the Communist authorities to show clemency before the Beijing Olympics.

However, on the same day, a Chinese court sentenced a writer who had hit out against corruption to four years in prison. About 35 Chinese journalists remain behind bars, most sentenced on an array of varying charges after their reports angered officials.

Ching Cheong, 58, chief China correspondent for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper and a veteran who had covered China since the early 1980s, was released a day before the start of the lunar new year holiday, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar.

Mr Ching had been in poor health since his arrest in southern China in April 2005. He was sentenced later that year to five years in jail on charges of spying for Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as a rebel province. The high-profile case involving a reporter who had worked for pro-Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong before the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown only highlighted Beijing’s determination to curb the media.

Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive, said: “It is most gratifying that he could reunite with his family in time for the Spring Festival.”

His wife, Mary Lau, had campaigned tirelessly for Mr Ching’s release on medical grounds. Hong Kong officials said Mr Ching had been freed on parole and had returned to the former British colony. Ms Lau could not be reached for comment and her mobile telephone was switched off.

The release of the journalist indicates that China can be receptive to international pressure in political cases – but usually only when those involved command a very high profile overseas or are not mainland citizens. Mr Ching holds Hong Kong papers.

However, the Communist leadership made clear yet again yesterday that it will brook only limited defiance and dissent.

A court in the southern city of Hangzhou yesterday sentenced writer and democracy activist Lu Gengsong to four years in jail on charges of subverting state power. No questions or statements were allowed. Mr Lu was led away immediately after sentencing in a session that lasted less than 20 minutes.

The charges during his one-day trial last month included references to 19 essays he had posted on the Internet. Mr Lu had written about local corruption cases, including allegations that local officials colluded with businessmen on property projects.

Inciting subversion is a vague charge frequently used by the judicial authorities to silence critics of the ruling Communist Party.

Last week, police formally arrested well-known dissident and AIDS activist Hu Jia on just such a charge. Mr Hu had used the Internet to chronicle the plight of other dissidents and had filmed from his Beijing flat the groups of plainclothes state security agents who had camped outside and prevented him from leaving for 214 days last year.

Mr Hu’s case has won prominence because it is seen as a signal of the determination of the authorities to ensure no activists can create a disturbance during the Beijing Olympics in the summer.

Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch said: “The pattern of sentencing against dissidents and human rights defenders under politically motivated subversion charges in recent months indicates a deterioration of the overall human rights situation rather than the improvement that the world is expecting from an Olympic host.”

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