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HIS pursuit of an exclusive story three years ago sparked a chain of events that landed him in jail, challenged his reputation, and pushed him to the brink of suicide.
But Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong, who was freed from a southern Chinese prison earlier this month, said he remains passionate about journalism, despite an ordeal that took away more than 1,000 days of freedom.
'My interest in this profession is so intense that I'm going to withstand any difficulties that may be imposed on me,' he told The Straits Times on Tuesday, 15 days after his release on Feb 5, after almost three years in detention.
The 58-year-old chief China correspondent for the ST was sentenced in August 2005 to a five-year jail term, on charges of spying for Taiwan.
In the interview, he spoke of the dark days in jail and the secretive holding houses of the state security apparatus.
The detention pushed him to the breaking point when he even contemplated suicide.
Fortunately, his spirits perked up soon after he read several self-help books that his family had brought him during their monthly prison visits.
When he finally walked out of jail a free man, it was not with jubilation, but with 'numbess' and disorientation.
Mr Ching will host a tea gathering for local media on Thursday.
Read the full exclusive interview with Mr Ching in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
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