Human Rights Activists Call on China to Release Lee Ming-cheh

Taiwanese and Hong Kong activists gathered on Sunday, April 2, to urge the Chinese government to release Lee Ming-cheh, a human rights activist detained in China for approximately two weeks, according to an article by Taipei Times.

Among the individuals who condemned China’s actions were New Power Party Executive Chairman Hua Kuo-chang, former Sunflower leaders Chen Wei-ting and Lin Fei-fan, and Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong.

In a Taipei news conference, they also called on the U.S. to take a closer look at China’s human rights violations, just ahead of a scheduled meeting between Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Wong fears that the two leaders will focus on trade-related matters, putting China’s human rights violations on the wayside.

“As a long-term supporter of human rights and democracy, the U.S. should not compromise those values in exchange for trade opportunities,” Huang said in the news conference.

Lee arrived in China from Macau on March 19 and has been detained incommunicado by Chinese authorities ever since. Various groups have called on the government to question his whereabouts.

It was only last week, 10 days after Lee has been detained, when the Chinese government broke its silence and confirmed his detention, citing “activities endangering national security” as grounds.

China’s treatment of human rights supporters, critics, and other elements of civil society has increasingly deteriorated under President Xi Jinping’s administration. A law has also been passed, regulating the activity of foreign non-governmental organizations in China.

“The Lee Ming-cheh case is a touchstone of Beijing’s attitude toward [NGO] activities in China ahead of the Trump-Xi talks. It is yet to be seen whether China will continue to suppress such activities,” Lin told the media.

“The U.S. cannot excuse itself from China’s human rights violations if it wants to reassure its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.”