Lu Jiaping, a Beijing scholar known for revealing scandals about high-ranking Chinese officials over the Internet, was recently placed under house arrest. According to his official web site, on Feb. 24, at least six Beijing public security officers raided his residence in Haidain district, Beijing, confiscated and photographed his computer and papers.

According to Lu’s Web site, Lu had been followed and monitored by public security officers because of an article he wrote that exposing an affair of former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, with Song Zuying, a famous Chinese singer.

Lu’s wife Yu Junyi said that Lu’s original intent was to only circulate this article through internal channels. However, he discovered that after he wrote this article he found immediately came under public security’s surveillance, so he published this article on the Internet. She also added that Lu is “open to persuasion but not to coercion.” She is appealing to the world for support over the Internet.

On Feb. 21, Lu’s homepage announced that the article entitled, “Reflections on Matters Concerning Jiang Zemin,” mainly discussed “Jiang Zemin’s deeds and his admission to the Chinese Communist Party” and “Jiang Zemin’s relationship with Song Zuying.” An editor’s note on the article stated that Lu was prepared to sacrifice himself to fight against treason, corruption and tyranny.
When asked about the credibility of Lu’s article, Yu said, “It has [corroborating] sources and evidence, and is very reliable.”

Lu Jiaping, 60, born in Shanghai, was a retired army officer and was working as a freelance writer in Beijing.
Last year, Lu said that Jiang Zemin is “as fake as counterfeit money on the market.” His “Reflections” article published on Feb. 21 further emphasized Jiang’s background and admission to the Chinese Communist Party. It indicated that Qiao Shi is among the most senior members of the CCP to support the investigation of Jiang.

The article also discussed the relationship between Jiang Zemin and Song Zuying. It stated that Jiang Zemin frequently attended Song Zuying’s performances. One time, after a performance, Jiang shook hands with Song and secretly slipped her a note saying, “If you need anything just ask Big Brother.” This article exposed Jiang’s secret affair with Song, his spending 3 billion yuan ($380 million) to construct a grand opera house for her, and his costing China’s navy millions of dollars for the sake of Song’s overseas performances.

The article pointed out that Song had the authority and the privilege of broadcasting her performances on China Central Television and also that Song had vice premier-level security guards.

Sometime later, Song Zuying revealed the affair to others.

According to Lu’s article, Zhao An, a former director of CCTV’s cultural and entertainment programming, was fired for spreading information about the scandal of Jiang Zemin and Song Zuying. Zhao’s manuscript of the scandal was obtained by Zhang Junyi. Zhang anonymously sent more than 200 words of the manuscript’s content to government officials and leaders to notify them of Zhao and Song’s “defaming” Jiang. However, Zhang was arrested by Jiang Zemin’s direct orders.

Xinhua Net reported on Dec.12, 2003, that the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court ruled Zhang Junyi was found guilty for defaming a Chinese official. Yang Xueni, a 25-year-old woman from Zhejiang Province, was sentenced to three years for collaborating with Zhang. The report indicated that Zhang and Yang defamed the CCP, the Chairman, and his reputation.