US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback is expected to meet with Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), the wife of jailed human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), tomorrow, a source said yesterday.
Lee Ming-che was arrested by the Chinese government when entering China in March 2017 and was in November 2017 sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of “subversion of state power.”
He is serving his sentence in Chishan Prison in Hunan Province.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Following a visit to see her husband in December last year, Lee Ching-yu was in January banned from visiting him again until April 22, because prison officials said her comments about his mistreatment by prison authorities “deviated from the facts.”
The source said that Lee Ching-yu had met with Brownback when visiting the US earlier this year and had mentioned how Lee Ming-che was helping other inmates at Chishan Prison.
Brownback had told Lee that he hoped to meet again when he visited Taiwan in March, the source said.
Brownback is expected to attend the “Indo-Pacific dialogue on protecting religious freedom in civil societies” in Taipei tomorrow.
Representatives from 11 foreign nations are expected to attend, along with an additional 200 international dignitaries and guests, according to government plans.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy yesterday said that religious freedom is a right that Taiwan and the US fully support, especially as “certain powers” are oppressing religious groups.
Difficulties facing religious freedom in the Indo-Pacific region include populism, discrimination against religion, acts eroding religious freedom, acts of surveillance, and oppression of specific groups and ethnic minorities, it said.
“As a democratic nation in the Indo-Pacific region with great religious freedom, we hope to take on a more active role in promoting and upholding tolerance of religious freedom in the region,” the foundation said.
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