Career
As a journalist for Reuters he was imprisoned by the Chinese government for 27 months in China from 1967 to 1969. He has written a series of historical novels and non-fiction books, including several relating to his detention. Detention in China (1967 - 1969) While working for Reuters in Peking covering China"s Cultural Revolution, in July 1967 he was confined to the basement of his house by the Chinese government under the leadership of Mao Zedong, ostensibly for spying, but really in retaliation for the colonial British government jailing eight pro-Chinese media journalists who had violated emergency regulations during the Leftist riots in British 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 British Hong Kong. The British 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.
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 Twentyfour Hours, a daily international affairs programme on the British Broadcasting Corporation"s World Service. He produced television documentaries for the British television stations British Broadcasting Corporation 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 British Broadcasting Corporation World Service entitled unidentified flying object"s - Fact, or Fantasy?.
His conclusion was that there is overwhelming evidence for visitations to earth by extra-terrestrials.