Detained human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) might be put on a human rights watch list to be presented during a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) later this year, following efforts by Lee’s wife to seek assistance at a US congressional hearing.
Weeks after her husband’s detention Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜) testified at a US House of Representatives committee hearing about his detention on Thursday last week.
“Changes were made to the past authoritarian regime in Taiwan because of international assistance,” said Lee Ching-yu, adding that international involvement in her husband’s case could pressure China into releasing him.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“The US is only the first stop,” she said yesterday at a news conference in Taipei.
Lee Ming-che was detained after entering Zhuhai, China, from Macau on March 19. He used to work for the Democratic Progressive Party and is a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, as well as a volunteer at the non-governmental organization Covenant Watch.
US Representative Chris Smith has launched a petition about Lee Ming-che’s case and a signed request for his release by bipartisan members of the US Congress, might be delivered to Xi, said Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏), who accompanied Lee Ching-yu to Washington.
TheUS Congress could put forward a list of human rights cases, which Trump would be urged to present to Xi during a summit in China, Yang said.
Lee Ming-che’s name would be on the list, Yang said.
Almost all human rights lawyers and activists arrested by Beijing in recent years have been tortured and drugged, and Lee Ming-che might be subject to the same inhumane treatment, he added.
Lee Ching-yu said the US had promised to ensure her personal safety because any harassment or threats made against her and others who testified at the hearing would be considered “a violation of US sovereignty,” she said, citing US Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director Laura Stone.
The US’ commitment to its sovereignty has highlighted Taiwan’s neglect of its sovereignty issue, Lee Ching-yu said, adding that the Straits Exchange Foundation at first refused to accept a report of her husband’s disappearance, asking her to report the case to Chinese authorities.
National Security Bureau Deputy Director Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) said in a legislative meeting in Taipei that “China could not arrest the wrong person,” which led Lee Ching-yu to ask if the government believed Lee Ming-che deserved his detention.
“Most Taiwanese do not understand human rights or even want to understand it, but how can we forget that [fighting for human rights] is precisely what empowered Taiwan to end the White Terror era and topple authoritarian rule?” she said.
Her attendance at the hearing in Washington was sanctioned by the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which stipulates that “the preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the US.”
The TRA has rarely been cited for human rights issues, and the government in Taipei should urge the US to honor its commitment to Taiwan under the act to secure participation at the World Health Assembly, she added.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS