The Chinese authorities have formally arrested a researcher in the Beijing bureau of The New York Times on charges of disclosing state secrets. Detained on suspicion on Sept 17, Zhao Yan has not been allowed to see his lawyer or relatives.Charges under the stringent state security law were filed on Wednesday, according to a notice received by Zhao’s family, but no details of his alleged misdeeds have been disclosed. In China, formal arrest on security charges is a major step toward a secret trial and virtually certain conviction, with a long prison sentence possible.‘‘To our knowledge, Mr Zhao has not been involved in any way in disseminating state secrets,’’ Susan Chira, foreign editor of The Times, said in New York.US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell raised the matter with China’s Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing, during a recent meeting in Washington. Powell will be visiting China later this week, and The Times has asked that he again raise the case at the highest levels. Zhao’s acquaintances think that his arrest was linked to a September 7 NYT article that accurately predicted the imminent resignation of Jiang Zemin, the ex-president, as chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. — NYT
