Hearing on reporter's spy story sources

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- A judge in California says he wants a Washington Times reporter to explain to him why his sources in a story about a Chinese spy should remain confidential.

Times reporter Bill Gertz is scheduled to appear Monday before a federal judge in Los Angeles and explain what the judge said was the newsworthiness of the story and the justification for refusing to reveal the identity of the sources.

The order for Gertz to appear was issued on Monday, The Washington Post said.

The case revolves around the arrest and subsequent conviction of Chi Mak, a Chinese-born engineer who passed on information to Beijing about naval technology his defense-contractor employer was working on.

The Post said U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney ruled that Gertz's article in 2006 violated grand jury secrecy and that Gertz should reveal if his source was a government official.