Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) yesterday said that the arrest in China of Gusa Press editor in chief Li Yanhe (李延賀), also known as Fucha (富察), is a sign that the Beijing government is extending its suppression of freedom of speech to the publishing industry in Taiwan.
Li returned to Shanghai last month to cancel his household registration, but was secretly arrested by police. His friends and family have not heard from him since.
He was born in China’s Liaoning Province, has a doctorate in Chinese language and literature, and was a deputy managing editor of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. He later married a Taiwanese and has been living in Taiwan for several years. He established Gusa Press (八旗文化) in 2009, received a resident certificate in 2013 and has reportedly obtained Republic of China citizenship.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Lee, who served a five-year prison sentence in China on charges of “subversion of state power,” said that Beijing’s attempt to extend its suppression of free speech to Taiwan’s publishing industry should be taken seriously and discussed.
Lee said that Gusa Press has published books, including The China Record: An Assessment of the People’s Republic (中國紀錄:評估中華人民共和國) and Tibet — 70 Years of Domination under the People’s Republic of China (新疆—被中共支配的七十年), that are directly aimed at the core of China’s autocratic regime, so the Beijing government is now clearly reaching out to suppress the most free and open Chinese-language publishing market — Taiwan.
“The issue is how will Taiwanese society react to it? Remain silent out of fear? Or should we let Taiwan and the global society know about the suppression? It is a choice that Taiwanese society has to make,” he said. “What do we choose when our core values are being suppressed?”
“China’s suppression of Taiwan’s self-determination will never stop, and Fucha’s case is just the beginning,” Lee said.
China used to secretly exert pressure, but now it just flagrantly arrests people, he added.
Faced with that pressing threat, Taiwanese society should voice its resistance, he said, adding: “Give dictators an inch and they will take a mile.”
With Fucha at the helm, Gusa Press has published books that break down the concept of Chinese nationalism, which is the base of the Chinese government’s rule, in addition to books on how China is suppressing human rights and non-fiction reports about Chinese society, Lee said.
The books can help Taiwanese understand and break away from a Greater China perspective of history, empowering Taiwanese to resist Beijing’s call for the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Lee said.
Gusa Press on Sunday issued a statement, saying that the publishing house, upholding the principle of spreading knowledge, will continue to publish good quality books, and that it believes Fucha, who is lenient toward others and full of passion toward publishing, will be able to continue sharing his knowledge and passion with everyone soon, and that they await his safe return.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS