Dozens of people rallied yesterday to spell out “China! Free Li” in Zhongyangyiwen Park (中央藝文公園) in Taipei and calling on Beijing to released Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲).
Lee went missing on March 19 after entering Zhuhai, China, from Macau. More than two months later the Chinese Ministry of State Security announced that he had been arrested on a charge of subversion of state power.
He was put on trial in Hunan Province on Monday last week and the court later released video footage of him confessing to attempting to subvert the Chinese government and accepting the charge against him.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), and human rights groups have been working since his disappearance to get Beijing to release him, and on Monday said that she did not recognize the validity of his trial.
Yesterday, civic groups that have been supporting Lee Ming-che gathered more than 250 supporters wearing red or white, who shouted “Freedom, not guilty! Democracy, not guilty! Release Lee Ming-che” as they formed the message “China! Free Li.”
Chen Fang-ming (陳芳明), a professor in the Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature at National Chengchi University, said that seeing the video of Lee’s confession reminded him of Chinese human rights lawyers detained by Beijing who have been forced to confess to various crimes.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“What’s the meaning of a rich and powerful state if its people cannot speak their minds? … China is an economic great power, but a dwarf in terms of human rights,” he said.
The Chinese government is unwilling to accept the universal values of freedom, democracy and civic rights that are common in Taiwan, he said.
Covenants Watch chief executive officer Huang Yi-bee (黃怡碧) said she and Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) testified before the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in Switzerland on Wednesday about Lee Ming-che’s detention and trial.
She said the working group was very concerned about him and about his wife, worried that Lee Ming-che had confessed under severe mental pressure.
As he is being held on remand at an unknown location and Lee Ching-yu had previously been barred from freely entering China to see him, the Working Group agreed to continue investigating his case.
Chiu urged Taiwanese who criticized Lee Ching-yu to stop attacking, because their right to speak freely in Taiwan was fought for by human rights advocates like Lee Ming-che.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said the Chinese government is trying to send the message that “if you step onto Chinese territory, we have control over you no matter where you come from,” and that its judicial system, which lacks the soul of the rule of law, is valid.
The groups said they will continue to air their protests to the world until Lee Ming-che is released.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old