This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com:
- China kidnaps and tortures Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che for sham confession
- Kidnapping and sham trial of Lee Ming-che brings China-Taiwan relations to another low
China kidnaps and tortures Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che for sham confession
Taiwanese editorial cartoon depicting commonly held attitude toward China’s trial of Lee Ming-che (News Lens)
Lee Ming-che, a community college teacher in Taiwan who has posted criticisms of the mainland Communist Party of China (CCP), was kidnapped by Chinese authorities on March 19 in Macau, as he was traveling to China to visit a friend. There was no word of his fate until March 28, when Chinese authorities confirmed that he had been jailed on charges of “pursuing activities harmful to national security.” Lee is the first Taiwanese to be accused based on a new law that specifies harsh punishment for CCP critics.
Lee’s family was not permitted to visit, and he had no lawyer except one appointed by the CCP. Only when his trial began, on Monday, September 11, were his wife and mother permitted to see him in the courtroom.
On Monday, the CCP released videos of Lee confessing to his alleged crimes, referring to comments written in an instant messaging group: “I spread some attacks, theories that maliciously attacked and defamed China’s government, the Chinese Communist Party and China’s current political system, and I incited the subversion of state power.”
Few people doubt that Lee’s “confession” was coerced, probably by means of torture.
Lee’s wife Lee Ching-yu said to the Taiwanese media, “Please forgive Lee Ming-che if you see him doing or saying something disturbing in court under duress. That is just the Chinese government skillfully extracting a ‘guilty confession.'” Taipei Times (28-Mar) and Reuters and News Lens (Taiwan)
Kidnapping and sham trial of Lee Ming-che brings China-Taiwan relations to another low
The Chinese kidnapped, jailed, tortured, coerced a confession from and tried in court someone who was effectively a nobody, and nothing that he said could possibly have done any harm to the Chinese government. So the question arises why China would spend millions of dollars to do this with no apparent purpose.
According to Taiwanese Judicial Reform Foundation Executive Director Kao Jung-chih, the timing of the trial was deliberately set for Monday to stop Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, from traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, on September 10 and reporting on her husband’s case at a meeting of the U.N. working group on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances; the court trial disqualified Lee Ming-che as a victim of enforced disappearance, which international law treats as a crime against humanity.
Many analysts believe that China is using the Lee case to send a warning that a crackdown on Taiwan is coming. According to one analyst, “Beijing has been in the mode of demonstrating that China is not happy with Taiwan and can cause Taiwan pain in a variety of ways. In that sense, Beijing welcomes a deterioration of relations with Taiwan.”
Taiwan’s Premier William Lai begged China to return Lee to Taiwan, stating, “Lee works at a non-profit organization as a human rights advocate. There is no way he could subvert the Chinese government. I felt sorry for Lee being forced to confess at a trial in a manner nobody could accept.” Sentinel (Taiwan) and VOA and Taipei Times and News Lens (Taiwan)
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KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Taiwan, Lee Ming-che, Lee Ching-yu, Kao Jung-chih, William Lai
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