A Taiwan-based publisher who had been detained by Chinese authorities since 2023 was last month convicted of “inciting secession” in China, Beijing said yesterday, prompting complaints from Taiwanese authorities that the trial had been held in secret.
A Shanghai court handed Li Yanhe (李延賀) a conviction on Feb. 17 in a “public sentencing,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement, without specifying the sentence.
“The court heard the case strictly in accordance with the law, fully guaranteed the various litigation rights of Li Yanhe and his advocate according to law,” the statement said.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
The sentencing came as Beijing commemorates the 20th anniversary of its “Anti-Secession” Law, which gives it the legal authority to punish people pursuing “Taiwanese independence” activities.
The Mainland Affairs Council, which said it was apprised of the case, but did not disclose details because of the family’s wishes, rejected Beijing’s claim that Li’s sentencing was public.
The trial was kept a “complete secret,” the council said in a statement, adding that Beijing’s claim of guaranteeing Li’s rights were “complete lies.”
Neither Taiwan nor China has said where Li has citizenship.
Li, also known by the pen name Fucha (富察), worked as editor-in-chief of Taiwan-based Gusa Press (八旗文化).
“All colleagues at Gusa Publishing feel angry and uneasy,” the publisher said in a statement on social media yesterday.
“We can’t see the indictment, don’t know what exactly Fucha was convicted for doing, don’t know the sentence, and are even more uncertain about whether he can return home after serving his sentence,” the statement said.
Beijing in April 2023 confirmed that Li had been detained “on suspicion of engaging in activities endangering national security” after his disappearance on a trip to Shanghai sparked media speculation.
“Li Yanhe made outstanding contributions to Taiwan’s cultural publishing industry,” the council said. “The fundamental purpose of the [Chinese] Communist Party’s detention of Li Yanhe is to clamp down on Taiwan’s publishing, academic and cultural circles, and to create a chilling effect.”
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS