China has once again damaged its credibility and image in the eyes of Taiwanese.
Beijing late on Friday announced that it has arrested Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che on suspicion of “subversion of state power,” saying that Lee has admitted to the charge.
However, it did not provide further information, such as legal evidence to support the charge or details regarding Lee’s health and safety.
Lee went missing on March 19 after entering China from Macau. According to the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議), China should notify the relatives of a detainee within 24 hours of the detention.
However, the Chinese authorities took 10 days to respond to Taipei’s inquiries and confirmed that they had Lee in custody, saying he was then detained on suspicion of engaging in “activities endangering national security.”
Ministry of Justice figures suggest that China has long disregarded the agreement signed in 2009, as it has responded only to 365 of a total of 681 inquiries by Taiwan requesting information related to cases of personal freedom over the past seven years.
Many Taiwanese are questioning China’s credibility after Beijing’s brazen dismissal of the notification system, which has enforced the perception that China is a high-risk nation with no rule of law.
China has also reinforced Taiwanese’s repulsion toward Beijing with its disrespect for human rights.
Beijing’s detention of Lee flies in the face of several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including Article 9 that states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile,” and Article 10 that says: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”
The UN’s Human Rights Council convening on Tuesday next week should take up Lee’s case and condemn China for human rights abuses.
The last time Beijing charged someone over suspected subversion of state power was in August last year, when Kwon Pyong, an ethnic Korean who had studied in the US, was charged of “inciting subversion” for wearing a T-shirt that had the word “Xitler” written on it, likening Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Hitler and insinuating that Xi was “dumb.”
The cases deepen Taiwanese’s perception of Beijing’s intolereance.
Lee is a volunteer at the non-governmental organization Covenant Watch — an umbrella organization monitoring human rights in Taiwan — and his conducts were known to be closely associated with human rights issues.
If Beijing equates Lee’s work to “carrying out subversion of state power,” then it is possible that any Taiwanese who comments on human rights and political issues could also be suspected of “inciting subversion” in the eyes of Beijing.
Lee’s case embodies Taiwanese’s collective concern that what happens to him could happen to any other Taiwanese.
If China continues to show intolerance and disrespect toward freedom, human rights and the rule of law — all considered by Taiwan as its greatest assets — it can expect Taiwanese’s trust toward Beijing to erode even further and view it with more repulsion.
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