[JURIST] The Chinese government has postponed the trial against former New York Times researcher Zhao Yan [HRIC profile, PDF], which was scheduled to begin Thursday, Zhao's lawyer said Wednesday. Zhao was indicted for "providing state secrets to foreigners" following a 2004 New York Times report [text] that revealed the resignation of Jiang Zemin as head of the military before it was formally announced.

China first formally indicted Zhao on the state secrets charges in December, but dropped the charges in March while continuing to detain Zhao [JURIST reports]. China has insisted that Zhao's continued detention is legal [JURIST report]. Zhao's lawyer said Wednesday that no formal date has been scheduled for the retrial. The International Herald Tribune has more.