Taiwanese and Hong Kong democracy activists yesterday called for the immediate release of human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who has been detained incommunicado in China for two weeks.
Lee, an instructor at Wenshan Community College and a former Democratic Progressive Party employee, “disappeared” after his arrival in China from Macau on March 19. The Chinese government only announced 10 days later that Lee had been detained for engaging in “activities endangering national security.”
New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) and former Sunflower movement leaders Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) took part in a Taipei news conference where they condemned Lee’s detention and urged other nations, especially the US, to pay closer attention to China’s human rights violations.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Their appeal came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) scheduled meeting on Thursday with US President Donald Trump.
China under Xi has stepped up its suppression of rights activists over the past five years, Wong said, reminding reporters that he been stopped from entering Thailand in October last year, when he had been due to speak in Bangkok, and was detained for 12 hours before being sent back to Hong Kong.
Wong blamed Chinese pressure for the incident.
Wong said that Lee’s detention and the Trump-Xi meeting were behind his decision to call yesterday’s news conference, because he fears that human rights issues might be pushed aside in the trade-focused talks.
“As a long-term supporter of human rights and democracy, the US should not compromise those values in exchange for trade opportunities,” Huang said.
A Chinese law on foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which limits the activities of such groups in China, exposes international human rights activists to the risk of being detained in China the way that Lee has been, the lawmaker said.
“It is understandable why Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李淨瑜), decided not to employ a lawyer to rescue her husband since the detention could be a means of political suppression and the judicial process in China is of an ‘ornamental nature,’” Huang said.
“We have seen the helplessness of the Lee family against China’s authoritarian government. In addition to NGOs, our government has to provide staunch support for Lee Ching-yu,” Huang said.
The NPP lawmaker was sharply critical of the Straits Exchange Foundation amid reports that it had denied a request from Lee Ming-che’s family to deliver his blood pressure medication to him.
The foundation should be abolished if it could not even attend the basic medical needs of a Taiwanese held in China, Huang said.
“The Lee Ming-che case is a touchstone of Beijing’s attitude toward [NGO] activities in China ahead of the Trump-Xi talks. It is yet to be seen whether China will continue to suppress such activities,” Lin said. “The US cannot excuse itself from China’s human rights violations if it wants to reassure its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.”
There has been no word from Beijing on the charges against Lee Ming-che and it has also refused to disclose his whereabouts, something that should concern activists worldwide, Lin said.
The Sunflower movement in 2014 prevented a cross-strait trade in services agreement from being approved without due legislative process, and the current government was elected on the back of a newly formed public consensus about China, “but what does that prove when there is still a Taiwanese being held in China?” Chen said.
The detention of Lee Ming-che is not an isolated incident and Xi’s suppression of rights activists is being rigorously carried out, with participants and supporters of Hong Kong’s Umbrella movement in 2014 facing prosecution and likely prison sentences, Chen said.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s comment that the US and China would pursue relations on the principles of “non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation” used rhetoric akin to that of the Chinese Communist Party, Chen said.
Many fear that the US might allow China to retain its “core interests” of Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said.
Huang, Wong, Lin and Chen asked Beijing to disclose Lee Ming-che’s whereabouts and ensure his rights to visitation, medical care and legal assistance.
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
‘DIGITAL SOLIDARITY’: Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are to install and operate a cable that would connect up to 100,000 people in the Pacific Islands Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are working together to install undersea cables as a demonstration of digital solidarity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. Blinken talked about the cooperation in a speech he delivered at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. He said that the US International Cyberspace and Digital Strategy launched by the US Department of State “treats digital solidarity as our North Star.” “Solidarity informs our approach not only to digital technologies, but to all key foundational technologies,” Blinken said. Under the strategy, the US is to work with international partners “to shape the design, development,
POSSIBLE SOLUTION: The government needs to convey regulations to advertising platforms based overseas and access to the offenders could be restricted, Minister said The government is considering asking TikTok and other large digital advertising platforms to have agents based in Taiwan in accordance with the draft act on the prevention and control of fraud and crime, which is scheduled to be reviewed at an Executive Yuan meeting today, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The draft act is one of the legislative measures being introduced by the government to tackle scams, including the draft technology investigation and security act, and amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法). They are also to be reviewed