Lee Ming-che (; born 1975) is a Taiwanese

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

activist, detained by

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

authorities in late March 2017. After Lee entered the domain of China from

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

, he lost the ability to directly contact his family. There have been calls for his immediate release by human rights activists around the world. These include

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

activist

Joshua Wong Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosistō until it disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong national security la ...

, who joined Taiwan's

New Power Party The New Power Party (NPP) is a political party in Taiwan formed in early 2015. The party emerged from the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, and advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties, as well as Taiwan indepe ...

Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang, and former Sunflower Movement leaders to condemn Lee’s continued detention. Lee is a former worker for the Democratic Progressive Party and

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

employee, and the incident led to friction between security institutions in Taiwan and mainland China. A representative of the mainland Chinese government has stated that Lee was under investigation on suspicion of harming national security. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for Beijing's

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipul ...

(TAO), has said in a press conference that Lee is "currently in good physical condition". Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, called on Beijing to immediately release him, and to clarify the charges brought against him and ensure his rights. Lee has previously used social media to promote the success of Taiwan's democracy to 'at least 100 people' in communist China. On this occasion, he had gone to mainland China to arrange for his mother-in-law's medical treatment. In an effort to find her husband, Lee Ching-yu booked a flight from Taiwan to mainland China on 10 April, however she was banned from entering mainland China by its Ministry of Public Security. On 13 April, an editorial in ''

Taiwan News ''Taiwan News'' (formerly ''China News'') is an English-language online newspaper in Taiwan. It is owned by foods company I-Mei Foods, which also publishes the Chinese-language news weekly of the same name. History ''China News'' was founded ...

'' asserted that this is the type of situation that should be covered by the “Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement”. In September 2017, Lee Ming-che pleaded guilty to "subverting state power" in a court in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

. His wife and supporters say his confession was forced. Since his conviction he has been incarcerated in Chishan Prison. In November 2017, Lee was sentenced to five years imprisonment. In 2020 the Rescue Lee Ming-che Team held an exhibition in Taipei which featured 365 letters written to Lee Ming-che, the Team also organized a two week long lecture series on Lee’s case and the general human rights situation in mainland China. The letter writing campaign was a response to Lee being denied the right to write/receive letters and telephone calls which violates both the Prison Law of the People’s Republic of China and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. In April 2022, the

disclosed that Lee's health condition was stable, and that he would be released soon, completing a five-year term in detention. Lee was formally released on 14 April 2022, and returned to Taiwan the next day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ming-che Taiwanese activists People from Taipei Living people 1975 births Taiwanese prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China