Human rights and civic groups in Taiwan held a press conference in solidarity with Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-chieh, who is being held by the Chinese government, and called for Lee to be granted basic human rights in prison.
Shih Yi-cheung, secretary general of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, said that Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-che, who was forcibly disappeared after traveling to China via Macau on March 19, 2017, has been found guilty of subversion of state power by the Chinese authorities and must serve five years in prison for the free speech he enjoyed online in Taiwan.
He said, “This year is already the fourth anniversary, and in principle, 2022 should be the date when Li Mingzhe is released back to Taiwan, but the exact date of his release is now unknown.”
Shih added that such a situation is unthinkable in any democratic country, and could only happen in China, a country where totalitarian rule, human rights violations and disregard for trial principles are the norm.
Several civil and human rights groups in Taiwan held a press conference called “Ride for Lee” on Wednesday (March 17), where participants rode bicycles, handing out information and short speeches along the way, and chanting slogans such as freedom of speech and immediate release of Lee.
Lee’s former boss, Taipei Wenshan Community College President Cheng Hsiu-juan said that Lee’s Family was originally allowed to visit him once a month, but after the outbreak of the Epidemic last year, the Chinese side no longer allowed visits to the prison, and Lee could not contact his family.
Zheng Xiujuan also pointed out that after 3 years of imprisonment, Li Mingzhe had health problems, and after nearly a year of being out of contact, people are very worried about his health condition, even if Li Mingzhe is imprisoned, he should have the basic human rights to communicate with his family, and his family has the right to visit.
Hong Chong Yen, deputy secretary-general of Taiwan Yongshe, said that the Chinese Communist Party suppresses its own people and extends its state violence to other countries and regions. The CCP sees human rights as a threat, which is why it considers freedom of expression as a crime of subversion of state power, a crime that all people in the free world could be guilty of in this case.
Hong Chongyan added that if people do not stand up to this egregious act of the CCP, Li Mingzhe will not be the first and will not be the last, and no one will be spared from the CCP’s state security law.
Yang Gang, a researcher for the Coalition for the Application of Human Rights Conventions, said that during the more than 1,000 days of his detention, Li Mingzhe has experienced many inhumane treatments, including being forced to eat rotten Food, forced labor, and not knowing whether he had access to medical services during the epidemic.
Yang Gang pointed out that such actions by the Chinese authorities have violated the Mandela Rules, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and the Convention against Torture.
Lin Junxian, a member of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislature, said in an interview with the Voice of America that Li Mingzhe’s case has made the Taiwanese people more aware of the horror of the Chinese Communist regime, which not only has no human rights, but also does not care about the condemnation of the international community.
He said, “Li Mingzhe’s case, the government has been through all available channels, but because the Communist Party is this attitude, the outside world can exert efforts to help us is also limited, which is very regrettable.”
Lin Junxian added that China should wake up and the more it handles Li Mingzhe’s case by such means, it will only push Taiwan further away.
Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights Secretary General Shih Yi-cheung suggested that Tsai Ing-wen’s government should send National Human Rights Commission chief Chen Ju to the APEC meeting to advocate for a human rights dialogue mechanism as well as the establishment of an Asia-Pacific human rights court to handle cross-border human rights cases like Lee Ming-chieh’s.
Lee Ming-chieh, who has long been concerned about human rights issues in China and shared his experience of democracy in Taiwan with Chinese netizens through the Internet, was sentenced to five years in prison by Chinese judicial units on November 28, 2017, for subversion of state power.
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