There would be a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression caused by China’s detention of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀), people from the publishing, academia and arts sectors said yesterday.
Former minister of culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and former National Palace Museum director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) were among about 350 people who signed a statement calling on Beijing to “ensure the rights [of Li] according to Chinese law.”
Li, the editor-in-chief of Gusa Press, is being investigated by Chinese state security officials for “suspected activities endangering national security,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said on April 26.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The signatories said that Li’s detention and the subsequent investigation would have a “chilling effect” on Taiwan’s publishing sector and “damage normal cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.”
They urged Beijing to announce the results of the investigation into Li “as soon as possible.”
Following Li’s detention, TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said that his legal rights would be protected in accordance with the law.
However, the TAO has so far not provided further details about the state of Li’s health and his whereabouts.
Li was reportedly arrested by police in Shanghai in late March, shortly after he arrived in China to visit his family and deal with residency-related issues.
At a news conference in Taipei yesterday, Wang Chia-hsuan (王家軒), a former editor at Gusa Press, said that the detention of Li on national security grounds had caused many working in the publishing and cultural sectors in Taiwan to begin warning each other against traveling to China.
Chang Cheng (張正), the founder of New Taipei City-based Brilliant Time Bookstore, said that while they fully respected the wishes of Li’s family to keep the incident low-key, there was a need for people to voice their concern.
“We think the cultural, media and academic circles can no longer feign ignorance” over Li’s circumstances, Chang said.
Others who also signed the statement included Rex How (郝明義), founder and chairman of Locus Publishing Co; Kuo Chung-hsing (郭重興), founder of the Book Republic Publishing Group; Chien Chi-chong (簡志忠), founder of the Eurasian Publishing Group; and Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志), founder and publisher of Business Next Media Corp.
They were joined by award-winning writers Li Ang (李昂), Ping Lu (平路) and Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), as well as filmmakers Wang Shau-di (王小棣) and Ko I-chen (柯一正).
In an article read aloud by Wang Chia-hsuan, Jan, who is also chairman of online shopping platform PChome, said it would be “violent, ridiculous and out of date” for the Chinese government to convince itself that books published by Li Yanhe’s publishing house in Taiwan would endanger the national security of China.
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