Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) yesterday in a statement credited US adherence to the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) for his release and humane treatment while incarcerated in a Chinese prison.
Lee is in quarantine after returning to Taiwan on Friday following a five-year prison sentence in China for “subversion of state power.”
Writing on Facebook, Lee and his wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), said that US assistance had come as “precious air to a suffocating man.”
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“That Lee Ming-che could safely return to Taiwan and was spared the worst abuses while imprisoned have to do, in great measure, to the US’ implementation of the [act], proving that it is not empty rhetoric, but a most precious foundation of Taiwan-US relations,” the couple wrote.
Lee Ching-yu had met many US lawmakers and human rights officials during her campaign to free her husband, including testifying before the US Congress and meeting White House officials, they said.
US lawmakers and officials in their interactions with Lee Ching-yu — repeatedly and without prompting — brought up Section II of the act as stipulating their country’s duty to safeguard human rights in Taiwan, the couple wrote.
The section says: “The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the US.”
The couple wrote: “As we thank the US government, we cannot help but note that China is continuously violating the human rights of all Taiwanese and perpetuating lies about exercising sovereignty over Taiwan.”
The couple also thanked the US Department of State for its well wishes, after department spokesman Ned Price on Monday wrote on Twitter: “The United States celebrates the release and homecoming of Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-che after five years of unjust detainment in a People’s Republic of China prison for human rights advocacy.”
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