Lee Ming-cheh, a Taiwanese activist, has been in the custody of the Chinese government for over a month. His wife, Lee Ching-yu, is desperately calling for his release, according to an article in The Guardian.
Without any word from Beijing, Lee Ching-yu has vowed to take her pleas to the European Union and the United States, hoping they can help in her husband’s release.
“It is only through international support that we can force a country that encroaches on human rights to stop this action,” Lee Ching-yu told The Guardian in an exclusive interview. She plans on taking her fight to Brussels and Washington in May.
Lee Ming-cheh flew from Taiwan to China to visit his friends based in Guangzhou. Friends and loved ones believed him to be missing upon touchdown to Chinese soil. After several days, Beijing admitted they had placed Lee under their supervision for posing a threat to national security.
As stipulated in standard Chinese criminal law, Lee Ming-cheh should have already been either charged or released by the authorities. April 24, Monday, marked his 37th day in detention, but his situation remains unclear.
All that China’s Taiwan affairs office announced on April 26, Wednesday, was that Lee Ming-cheh is still being investigated. They added that Lee had already explained his situation “to his family in a letter,” according to The Guardian.
Lee Ching-yu, however, believes that her husband was forced to write the letter, which, in the first place, provided little information.
“It was my husband’s handwriting but he made no connection with me,” Lee Ching-yu told The Guardian. “He did not write that letter voluntarily.”
Several individuals have come forward to offer Lee Ching-yu help in uncovering her husband’s situation.
Meanwhile, others have suggested that her silence might help secure Lee Ming-cheh’s freedom or spare him from humiliation.