Beijing would continue to make arrangements for family members of Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) to visit him in jail, a Chinese government spokesman said yesterday.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) made the pledge after Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), the wife of Lee Ming-che, told a news conference on Saturday last week that Chinese authorities have twice denied her request to visit him.
“As far as we know, Lee was transferred back to Chishan Prison in Hunan Province on Oct. 28,” Ma said. “Regarding family visitation issues, the prison has explained to his family, in an appropriate way, why their request was denied this time.”
However, Lee Ching-yu said that Chinese authorities have given no explanation why her husband was returned to the Hunan prison two weeks after being moved to a prison in Hebei Province.
Ma said that prison authorities had been handling visitation rights for Lee Ming-che’s family members in accordance with the law since he began serving his prison term, adding that his family members had visited him several times and visits would continue to be arranged.
Lee Ming-che has been detained in China since March last year, when he entered Guangdong Province from Macau.
He was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of “subversion of state power” in November last year, because of comments he made and information he circulated on social media about democracy, freedom of expression and human rights in China.
Lee had been serving his sentence at Chishan Prison since Dec. 28 last year, but a Taiwanese business association in Hunan on Oct. 19 said that it was notified by the Chinese government that Lee had been transferred to Yancheng Prison in Hebei.
Lee’s family members are allowed to visit him once a month, according to a visitation notice they received from Chishan Prison in January.
His wife visited him in March, May, June, July and September, but her visitation requests have been denied twice since last month.
Lee Ching-yu said temperatures in Hebei can fall to 2°C, compared with 12°C in Hunan, so the abrupt transfer raised concerns about her husband’s health, particularly after her requests were denied.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the