Chinese Police Search Office of Post Reporter

Chinese officials searched the office of an American reporter Sunday, warned her about her activities and said they had arrested one of her sources, said the journalist, Lena Sun of the Washington Post.

The officials said they were from the State Security Ministry, in charge of rooting out spies and other threats to national security. They had a search warrant and took personal papers and notebooks from the office safe, Sun said in a written statement.

They told her she had engaged in activities incompatible with her status as a foreign journalist but did not give details. In answer to her questions, they said a decision on whether she was to be expelled was not up to them to make.

The officials told Sun that one of her Chinese sources had been arrested and was under investigation. They questioned her about her relations with the source, whom Sun met when she studied in Beijing in 1977.

In Washington, the Post sent a letter to China’s ambassador to the United States, Zhu Qizhen, protesting the search.

“This harassment of Ms. Sun is an outrageous breach of the international norms and standards that protect foreign journalists around the world from such unwarranted search and seizure,” the letter said, adding that the Post is confident that Sun operated in a professional manner.

The letter, signed by Post Co. Chairman Katharine Graham and President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Graham, asked that the files be returned promptly.

“We trust that this incident will not be a prelude to further unwarranted charges or harassment of Ms. Sun or the Washington Post,” it said.

The search of Sun’s office took about 2 1/2 hours. During that time, plainclothes police prevented Sun’s husband and 33-month-old son from leaving their apartment.