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.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
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