The protest came after Hong Kong security chief Ambrose Lee said Tuesday the government would not get involved in the arrest in April of Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong citizen and chief China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times.

Activists chanted slogans at the office and demanded Ching's immediate release.

One, with chains around his neck and arms to symbolise the plight of Ching, tried to hand a petition to the security guards but they would not take it. The activists set the petition alight.

"Ching hasn't been tried and now he is detained; this is against the law," said James Lung, spokesman for Rescue Ching Cheong Alliance formed by six non-governmental groups in the city.

"They should release him first then take him to court if they can provide any evidence against him," Lung said. "To detain him without any trials undermines his human rights."

Lee said Tuesday that Ching's family had requested the government take a low profile in the saga.

Meddling would also compromise the One Country, Two Systems relationship that allows Hong Kong to operate semi-autonomously from its rulers in China, he said.

Ching, 55, was arrested on April 22 and Chinese authorities announced late last month he was being held on espionage charges.

Officials have given few details of the reason for the arrest nor any evidence, saying only that he had admitted to spying for "overseas organs" in return for money. He is under house arrest in Beijing.

His wife, Mary Lau, said she believed Ching's arrest was connected to his attempts to acquire the manuscript of a publication about the late former Chinese Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang.

Zhao was purged and kept under house arrest for the last 16 years of his life for opposing the military crackdown on Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989.

"What we are worried about that his fate will end up like Zhao Ziyang's," said Lung.

"He was kept under house arrest until he died, without a trial."

Lung said the alliance has written to the Hong Kong branch of Amnesty International, calling for its help.

It will also hold a campaign next week to collect signatures from the public.

Ching's arrest has drawn international concern, with the United States and Britain calling on Beijing to provide an explanation.

Reporters Without Borders and media watchdog The International Federation of Journalists have also demanded his immediate release.

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