Fireworks are exploding like crazy outside my balcony, as Beijingers celebrate the advent of the Year of the Rat. The foreign correspondent community here has another reason to celebrate, too. Yesterday Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong was freed from a Chinese prison, after serving  part of a five-year sentence on charges of spying for Taiwan.  I've known Ching, a Hong Kong resident, since the 80's and was relieved to hear news of his release.

Today I spent a couple hours e-mailing colleagues on the board of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC), of which I am president, about issuing a statement on Ching's release. Since his detention in 2005, the FCCC's been pressing Chinese officials to free him and remove the veil of secrecy surrounding his case. Perceived as a goodwill gesture as Beijing gears up for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Ching's parole is a positive move, of course. I hope it means Chinese authorities are moving towards genuine transparency and due process, and not simply making a gesture with an eye to the Games.  Here's today's statement by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China: