The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Beijing for suppressing freedom of speech and the press after a Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) said that Gusa Press (八旗文化) editor-in-chief Li Yanhe’s (李延賀) sentencing was a “punishment for Taiwanese independence die-hards.”
Li, commonly known by his pen name Fucha (富察), was arrested and detained by Chinese national security authorities when he was visiting relatives in China in March 2023.
He was then stealthily prosecuted and sentenced to jail.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
It was not until March last year that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) announced the charges against him, saying that Li was convicted of “inciting secession,” given a three-year prison term and deprived of political rights for a year, with 50,000 yuan (US$7,230) in personal assets confiscated.
The NPC yesterday delivered a work report on the Chinese Supreme People’s Court and the Chinese Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP).
The work report said the court “enforced the Anti-Secession Law and harshly punished Taiwanese independence die-hards, giving sentences to Li Yanhe, who was convicted of inciting secession and undermining national unity, as required by law.”
SPP Procurator-General Ying Yong (應勇) said the agency is resolute in defending national security and would strictly punish “criminals” threatening national security.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sentenced Li simply to suppress freedom of speech and publication, the MAC said.
Such suppression reflected the CCP’s autocratic nature, which reminds Taiwanese of their democratic way of life, it said.
On June 5 last year, China’s Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau issued warrants for 20 Taiwanese it considered members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, with a bounty of 10,000 yuan on each of them.
Also in June last year, the TAO announced penalties on Taiwan-based companies related to Shen Tu-cheng (沈土城), father of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), banning them from engaging in any transaction or cooperation with organizations, businesses or people in China.
In October last year, China’s Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau established a criminal case against Puma Shen on charges of being involved in “secessionist activities.”
The CCP in January included Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) as “Taiwanese independence die-hards,” and listed prosecutor Chen Shu-yi (陳舒怡) as an accomplice in “separatist activities.”
Last month, Hong Kong media outlets accused Liu’s nephew of operating businesses in China to supply political donations for her, while the TAO later said it would “investigate it as required by law.”
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