Statement by the Lee Ming-che Rescue Team: A Solemn Clarification in Response to China's Malicious Smear Campaign

This morning, a Weibo account published an anonymous post titled "Lee Ching-yu and a Man Strolling Intimately in Yueyang," launching a personal attack on Lee Ming-che's wife, Lee Ching-yu. The Lee Ming-che Rescue Team issues the following clarification statement:

Lee Ching-yu arrived at the Yueyang Grand Skylight Hotel late at night at 11:00 PM on September 10. A Chinese state-appointed lawyer immediately delivered a court visitor's pass and a handwritten letter from Lee Ming-che. In the letter, Lee Ming-che asked his wife to send living expenses, medical expenses, books, and a telephone SIM card containing a WeChat Pay account. Because Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) personnel (pictured below) confiscated the travel documents of Lee Ching-yu and all accompanying personnel upon disembarking from the plane and monitored everyone's movements, Lee Ching-yu communicated to TAO personnel through Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) staff after the trial concluded on the 11th that she wished to handle the matters requested by Lee Ming-che. TAO personnel then arranged for her to first go to a bank to open an account at 09:00 on the morning of the 12th, followed by handling the telephone card.

TAO personnel punctually escorted Lee Ching-yu to open a bank account at 09:00 on September 12. As SEF personnel and the lawyer had other itineraries, Hsiao I-min, Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation's Complaint Center, accompanied her. The group walked toward the China Construction Bank. The photo published on Weibo was taken in front of the China Construction Bank; at the time, TAO personnel were stationed at the bank entrance ahead, and the photographer was likely a Chinese national security officer monitoring Lee Ching-yu from across the street and taking a complete photographic record. This selected photograph intentionally cropped out the TAO personnel. As they were about to enter the Construction Bank, Lee Ching-yu stepped forward and grabbed Hsiao I-min's arm to instruct him to ask about online banking availability later, whether remittances could be made from Taiwan, and other confidential matters that could not be disclosed publicly at that moment. Fearing eavesdropping by TAO and national security personnel, Lee Ching-yu leaned in particularly close to Hsiao I-min, resulting in this captured photograph. As seen in the photo, the two walked deliberately down the middle of the street, avoiding walls, dark alleys, and roadways to prevent sudden ambushes and abductions. While Lee Ching-yu spoke to Hsiao I-min, Hsiao was searching instructions on his mobile phone regarding how to open a bank account in China while simultaneously scanning the surroundings for any suspicious individuals approaching.

Due to China's tightened restrictions on Taiwanese individuals opening bank accounts, the China Construction Bank rejected Lee Ching-yu's application. TAO personnel then escorted Lee Ching-yu to the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China, but applications were unsuccessful at both. TAO personnel subsequently took Lee Ching-yu to China Mobile to apply for a phone card, but China Mobile also rejected Lee Ching-yu's application on the grounds of strict real-name system regulations for phone card accounts. Hsiao I-min asked TAO personnel to contact the Chinese state-appointed lawyer to explain the failure to open bank accounts and phone cards. The Chinese state-appointed lawyer replied that if they could not be processed, so be it, as they probably were not important anyway. Afterward, the group returned to the hotel.

Chinese national security authorities closely monitored Lee Ching-yu's itinerary throughout and were fully aware of the aforementioned situation, even maintaining a complete record. Despite this, they used an anonymous post to character-assassinate Lee Ching-yu and may have shown the photographs to Lee Ming-che to provoke him emotionally. Such tactics will only provoke resentment among the people of Taiwan. China's attempt to broadcast Lee Ming-che's mass trial via Weibo in order to "demonstrate China's legal might" and "teach Taiwanese people to consciously abide by mainland laws" has been completely undermined by such low-class tactics from its national security apparatus. The Lee Ming-che Rescue Team calls on the Chinese national security authorities to immediately punish the negligent personnel, issue a public clarification and apology, and restore justice to Lee Ching-yu and Hsiao I-min. Otherwise, the Lee Ming-che Rescue Team does not rule out retaining lawyers to sue the Chinese government.

[The person pictured below is the TAO personnel who was cropped out of the Weibo photo. He closely monitored Lee Ching-yu and her entourage, holding everyone's travel documents inside his black handbag until returning them to the accompanying personnel at the airport. After clearing customs, other accompanying personnel were not required to surrender their documents, but he demanded that Lee Ching-yu return her Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents, threatening that the plane would not be allowed to take off if she refused.]