Several groups are planning a demonstration on Monday to voice support for Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who is in prison in China, Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) said yesterday.
Lee was detained by the Chinese government on March 19 last year, when he entered China’s Guangdong Province from Macau.
There has been no indication that Beijing has eased political suppression of human rights advocates, Chiu said, adding that the authorities have not only arrested local advocates and lawyers, but also foreign advocates.
Lee, a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, was the first Taiwanese to be convicted on charges of attempted subversion of state power on Nov. 28 last year.
Lee in his trial said that he would not appeal the ruling of the Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan Province.
China accused Lee of cooperating with Chinese citizen Peng Yuhua (彭宇華) in “organizing, planning and taking action to subvert national authority and overthrow the socialist system,” saying that the men used online discussion groups to disseminate information and articles attacking the Chinese government.
China launched an online campaign designed to convince the public of Lee’s guilt even before the verdict was announced, Chiu said.
In his nearly one year in jail, Lee has not been allowed to contact his family or others, while the prison has even refused to accept warm clothing sent by his family, Chiu said.
The demonstration aims to remind Taiwanese of Lee’s detention and to urge the government to take action, Chiu said.
The demonstration is being organized by the “Lee Ming-che Rescue Team,” an alliance established by Taiwanese non-governmental organizations, including the association.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS