Kind encouragement and guidance were also offered by Professor Chang Lit-sen, now of Lexington, Massachusetts. Professor Chang, a church minister and author of more than a hundred publications on Chinese law, politics, and religion, made me aware of one of the most intriguing minor facts to emerge from three years of research. In June 1978, in Toronto, Dr. Chang baptized as a Christian one of the cofounders with Mao Tse-tung of China’s Communist Party. He was Chang Kuo-tao, the forceful general who had headed the Fourth Front Army and challenged Mao head-on for the leadership of the Communist movement at Fupien during a crucial stage of the Long March in the far west. General- Chang, who defected to the Kuomintang in 1938 after being worsted in the power struggle, called Dr. Chang to Toronto specially to carry out the baptism – and died a Christian believer in Canada a few months later.
About The Author
Career
Detention in China (1967 - 1969)
While working for Reuters in Beijing in July 1967 he was confined to the basement of his house by the Chinese government, ostensibly for spying, but really in retaliation for the jailing of eight left-wing journalists who had violated emergency regulations in Hong Kong. China demanded the release of the eight before Grey would be released. While the eight were eventually released, China then demanded the release of a further 13 Chinese jailed in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government refused. Grey was able to communicate by mail with his mother and girlfriend back in England, but was only allowed two 20-minute visits by British consular officials in the first 17 months of his confinement, and was never formally charged.
He was released in October 1969 after 27 months of captivity. Upon his return to Britain he was awarded the "Journalist of the Year" prize for 1969 at the IPC National Press awards, and an OBE.
Later Career
He published various stories and articles in such magazines as Playboy, Punch and The Illustrated London News. Between 1974 and 1979 he was a presenter on Twenty-four Hours, a daily international affairs program on the BBC's World Service.
He produced television documentaries for the British TV stations BBC and ATV World. These include Return to Peking in which he described changes in China since his imprisonment, and Return to Saigon, in which he visited Vietnam for the first time, subsequent to his successful novel Saigon.
In the late 1980s Grey's experience as a political hostage led him to found Hostage Action Worldwide, which worked for the release of other political hostages, in particular John McCarthy, Brian Keenan, Terry Waite and others held by Islamic groups in the Middle East.
From the 1990s Grey took an interest in UFOs. He produced a three-part documentary in 1996-1997 for the BBC World Service entitled 'UFO's - fact, fiction or fantasy?'. His conclusion was that there is overwhelming evidence for visitations to earth by extra-terrestrials.
Personal Life
In 1970 Grey married Shirley McGuinn (16 December 1932 - 24 November 1995), his girlfriend at the time of his imprisonment in China. They had two daughters, and divorced in 1992. From 1969 to 1973 the Greys lived in Jersey, and subsequently in London, West Sussex and Norwich.
Publications
Grey's publications include:
Fiction / Novels
Some Put Their Trust in Chariots (1973)
Crosswords from Peking (1975)
The Bulgarian Exclusive (1976)
The Chinese Assassin (1978)
Saigon (1982)
The Prime Minister Was a Spy (1983)
Peking: A Novel of Chinas Revolution 1921-1978 (1988)
The Bangkok Secret (1990) based around the real-life mysterious shooting death of Thailand's King Rama VIII
The Naked Angels (1990)
A Gallery of Nudes (1992)
Tokyo Bay (1996)
The German Stratagem (1998)
Short story collections
A Man Alone (1972)
What is the Universe In? (2003)
Non-Fiction
Hostage in Peking (1970) recounting his experiences in Chinese captivity
Quest for Justice: Towards Homosexual Emancipation (1992)
Speaking of Sex: The Limits of Language (1993)
Hostage in Peking Plus (2008)
The Hostage Handbook: The Secret Diary of a Two-Year Ordeal in China (2009)
Anthony Grey Page 80