Beijing late on Friday announced that Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) is being held for suspected subversion of state power.
The Ministry of Justice yesterday demanded that Beijing inform Taipei of Lee’s condition based on a cross-strait agreement to combat crime and cooperate on legal matters.
After the Chinese Ministry of State Security announced that Lee had been arrested, the justice ministry said it sent an e-mail to the Chinese Supreme People’s Procuratorate demanding that Lee’s physical health, security and litigation rights be protected during the investigation.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
It said it also called on the Chinese authorities to allow Lee’s relatives to visit him and to release him immediately after the investigation’s completion.
The Straits Exchange Foundation yesterday also called on Chinese authorities to release evidence related to the case.
The foundation said it would continue to provide assistance to Lee’s family and urged Beijing to protect Lee’s rights to avoid damaging cross-strait relations.
Photo: CNA
Lee on March 19 went missing after entering China from Macau and was later confirmed to have been detained by Chinese authorities.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman An Fengshan (安峰山) said that Lee had been officially arrested on suspicion of “subversion of state power.”
Lee has been detained in Hunan Province since March 19, An said, adding that he and “his partners in crime have directly confessed that they carried out activities that threaten our national security.”
An said that an investigation found that Lee had since 2012 frequently traveled to China, and worked with Chinese to develop plans and establish an illegal ring to subvert Beijing.
Lee used to work for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and is a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, as well as a volunteer at Covenant Watch, a non-governmental organization.
China had previously refused to provide details about his case, such as where he was being detained and what laws he was accused of violating.
Beijing has also refused to discuss Lee’s case with Taiwanese authorities and has ignored requests to allow Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), to visit him.
Lee Ching-yu and human rights groups have said that any “confessions” claimed by Beijing would likely be the result of coercion and have rejected suggestions that Lee Ming-che was involved in any activities in violation of Chinese law.
A group of Taiwanese civic groups — including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Covenant Watch, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and the Judicial Reform Foundation — yesterday issued a statement calling on Beijing to grant people it arrested the right to counsel, see visitors and view documents, which are basic rights under Chinese law.
The Ministry of Justice should take action by immediately sending delegates to China to negotiate for Lee’s release and make sure that he is safe and can hire a lawyer, the groups said.
Even if Chinese authorities intervene and bar the delegates from entering China, at least the nation would have made its appeals and position on the issue clear, they added.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive secretary Hsiao Yi-ming (蕭逸民) said the charge of “subversion of state power” is a pretext commonly used by Beijing to quash dissidents, and that people charged with this crime could face life sentences in the worst-case scenario.
Noting that Lee is the first Taiwanese arrested on the charge, Hsiao said the justice ministry has an unavoidable responsibility to take action, as Lee “will not be the last Taiwanese” to receive such treatment by China.
“Subversion of state power is a felony in China and imposing such a charge on a Taiwanese shows that China’s infringement on foreign human rights advocates have become increasingly blatant,” the groups’ statement said, calling on more nations to pay close attention to China’s behavior.
Considering the timing of Beijing’s news release on Friday night ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, Wenshan Community College principal Cheng Hsiu-chuan (鄭秀娟) questioned China’s intentions, saying that it was purposefully dodging attention as people prepare for the holidays.
Separately yesterday, Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said the “prison without trial” approach China is using only hurt the feelings of people across the Taiwan Strait and induced fear in Taiwanese visiting China.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS