A Chinese court will make its ruling in the trial of Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) on Tuesday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Ministry Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said last night.
The council has contacted Lee’s family after being notified by the Chinese lawyer appointed by the Chinese court for Lee’s defense and would make all efforts to assist Lee’s family in making the trip to attend the verdict hearing, Chiu said.
Lee, a staff member at Taipei’s Wenshan Community College and a volunteer at non-governmental organization Covenants Watch, went missing after entering China on March 19.
The Chinese government in May said that Lee had been arrested on charges of subverting state power and was being investigated on suspicion of undermining national security.
Chinese authorities on Sept. 11 released videos at a hearing at the Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan Province showing Lee pleading guilty to charges of “subversion of state power” and to intentionally disseminating information attacking the Chinese Communist Party.
Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), attended the hearing. Before leaving for China she had asked that Lee Ming-che’s supporters forgive him for anything he might be forced to say during the hearing that disappoints them.
Judicial Reform Foundation executive director of Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) said that the timing of the Sept. 11 hearing was deliberately set to stop Lee Ching-yu from traveling to Geneva on Sept. 10 and reporting on her husband’s case at a meeting of the UN working group on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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