Spy accusations still haunt anchor

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-17 08:13

It remains uncertain when Fang Jing, a star CCTV anchorwoman rumored to be involved in a spy scandal, will return to her regular work, although she said Tuesday she "is ready to head back to the screen".

"I have always been ready (to return to the anchor desk)," the 38-year-old told China Daily after a sudden reappearance on CCTV as a guest anchor on World Weekly, an international coverage program.

The program was recorded on Saturday and aired on Sunday night.

But the one-time anchorwoman for the prime-time military program Defense Watch said Tuesday that no CCTV program has contacted her for regular programming in the coming days.

The veteran anchor also declined to reveal when her next TV appearance will be.

Neither CCTV nor Fang has explained the exact reason for her absence from the screen since March. Defense Watch said Fang quit for "health reasons".

Fang, a Beijing native who has been working for the mainland's official television network China Central Television since 1993, was last week rumored to have been under investigation for leaking mainland intelligence.

A Yi, an ex-CCTV anchor who now teaches at Peking University, revealed on his blog last Tuesday that Fang "applied to host the military weekly program for the purpose of collecting military intelligence for outside sources after hosting prime time news features and news bulletins on the network."

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But A Yi said "sorry" to Fang Jing on his blog on Saturday and on Sunday declared Fang has returned to hosting and removed the accusations from his blog.

Fang Tuesday played down that her reputation may have been affected by the incident.

"The audience will make their own judgments and decide what is true about me," she said.

Fang was a member of the all-star line-up for some of the largest live broadcasts in CCTV history, including the live three-day broadcast of the handover ceremony of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and live coverage of the millennium celebrations in China on the eve of the year 2000.

She also learned singing from Guo Lanying, a renowned Chinese artist, and sang a Chinese folk song for acclaimed violinist Isaac Stern during his visit to Beijing in 1979.

Zhang Shaohua, a producer for Defense Watch, also said it is too early to say if Fang is returning to the program in the near future.

"The program certainly hopes for her return, but it is up to CCTV's News Center (the department that Fang actually works for) to decide when Fang will return for regular shooting," he told China Daily.

CCTV News Center officials were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.