Statement by the Lee Ming-che Rescue Team: Chinese National Security Devises Another Smear Campaign, the Rescue Team Solemnly Clarifies

Following anonymous smear posts published on Weibo by Chinese national security units on September 15th (Li Ching-yu intimately strolling with a man in Yueyang), internet trolls launched another wave of shares on the evening of the 18th, pushing videos such as "Footage of Li Ching-yu holding Hsiao I-min's arm while strolling is out, what a resounding slap in the face! So ironic!!!" and "Latest Surveillance Footage Exposed," continuing their personal attacks against Lee Ming-che's wife, Li Ching-yu. The Lee Ming-che Rescue Team issues the following clarifying statement:

1. When the entourage accompanying Li Ching-yu to China to observe Lee Ming-che's trial arrived in Shanghai for a connecting flight, their Mainland Travel Permits for Taiwan Residents were confiscated. They were kept in the custody of an official surnamed Chou from the Yueyang City Taiwan Affairs Office, who accompanied them throughout (Photo 1) and monitored everyone's movements. Upon arriving at the Yueyang Grand Skylight Hotel (No. 29, Dongmaoling Road, Yueyanglou District) late at night at 11:00 PM on September 10th, court-appointed lawyers dispatched by China immediately delivered the court attendance passes and a handwritten letter from Lee Ming-che (Photo 2). 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. Following the conclusion of the trial hearings on the 11th, Li Ching-yu requested Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) personnel to convey to the Taiwan Affairs Office that she wished to handle the matters entrusted by Lee Ming-che. At 09:00 AM on the 12th, the Taiwan Affairs Office arranged for official Chou to lead the group first to open a bank account and then to process a telephone card.

   

   Photo 1 / The image above shows a Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office official, who is the person not captured in the Weibo photo. He monitored Li Ching-yu and her accompanying personnel throughout the trip, with everyone's identification documents kept in his black handbag until they were returned to the entourage at the airport. After clearing customs, the other accompanying personnel did not need to return their documents, but he demanded that Li Ching-yu return her Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents, stating that the plane would not be allowed to take off if she refused.

   

   Photo 2 / The image above is Lee Ming-che's family letter.

2. Taiwan Affairs Office official Chou punctually led Li Ching-yu to open a bank account at 09:00 AM on September 12th. Because SEF personnel and the lawyers had other itineraries, Hsiao I-min, Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation's Appeal Center, accompanied them, walking along Dongmaoling Road in front of the hotel toward the China Construction Bank (No. 139, Dongmaoling Road, Yueyanglou District). The two photos used in the initial smear campaign on September 15th were taken in front of the China Construction Bank. At that time, Taiwan Affairs Office personnel were ahead of Li Ching-yu and Hsiao I-min, and the photographer appeared to be a Chinese national security operative monitoring Li Ching-yu from across the street, recording the entire event on video. The two photos are video stills that deliberately cropped out official Chou, though official Chou's trousers and shoes can still be seen in the lower-left corner of the second photo. Because the former site of the China Construction Bank had been converted into the China Postal Savings Bank (Baidu Maps still showed the address as Construction Bank), official Chou redirected the two to the adjacent Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Photo 3). As they were about to enter the bank, Li Ching-yu stepped forward and grabbed Hsiao I-min's arm to brief him on what to ask next: whether online banking was available, whether remittances could be made from Taiwan, and other confidential matters inappropriate for public disclosure here. Fearing eavesdropping by official Chou and national security operatives, Li Ching-yu drew particularly close to Hsiao I-min, resulting in the first photo being captured; the second photo shows that Li Ching-yu was already about to let go and separate. If Chinese national security units had released the complete video footage, it would show that the two had originally been walking separately, separated again after finishing their conversation, and deliberately walked in the middle of the street to avoid hugging walls, dark alleys, and roadsides where they could be ambushed and abducted. While Li Ching-yu was speaking to Hsiao I-min, Hsiao I-min was checking his phone for instructions on how to open a bank account in China while looking around to watch for any suspicious individuals approaching. Judging from the photographic distance, the national security operatives were monitoring and tailing them very closely.

   
   Photo 3 / The image above shows the street view of No. 139 Dongmaoling Road, Yueyang City on Baidu Maps. The former site of the China Construction Bank was changed to the China Postal Savings Bank, and the entourage later went to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to process their business.

3. Because China has recently strictly controlled the conditions for Taiwanese people to open bank accounts, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rejected Li Ching-yu's application to open an account. Official Chou then took Li Ching-yu to the nearby Rural Commercial Bank (No. 145, Dongmaoling Road, Yueyanglou District) and Bank of China (No. 210, Dongmaoling Road, Yueyanglou District), but none of the applications could be successfully processed. Official Chou then suggested getting a telephone card first and took Li Ching-yu to a China Mobile store (Railway Station Business Hall, No. 324, Zhanqian Road, Yueyanglou District), but China Mobile also rejected Li Ching-yu's application on the grounds of strict real-name regulations governing telephone card accounts. Hsiao I-min asked official Chou to contact the Chinese court-appointed lawyers to explain the situation regarding the inability to open bank accounts and telephone cards. The Chinese court-appointed lawyers replied that if it could not be processed, so be it, as it probably did not matter anymore. After staying at China Mobile for about half an hour, the entourage prepared to return to the hotel.

4. The video released tonight (the 18th) by Chinese national security units is surveillance footage from the China Mobile store (Railway Station Business Hall, No. 324, Zhanqian Road, Yueyanglou District). At the time, the entourage was preparing to leave China Mobile. As seen in the footage, Li Ching-yu grabbed Hsiao I-min to signal him to slow down and let official Chou (first on the left) walk ahead first. Several individuals suspected to be national security personnel were loitering at the entrance, two police (public security) vehicles were parked in the square in front of the door, and multiple burly men were gathered and waiting. Realizing something was amiss ahead, Li Ching-yu grabbed Hsiao I-min, letting official Chou clear the way in front, and the two followed closely behind, meeting the gazes of the watchers while passing swiftly through the doors. They then crossed the approximately 50-meter square, bypassed the police (public security officers) and burly men, and hailed a taxi directly on the side of Zhanqian Road, letting down their guard only after getting into the vehicle.

   
   Photo 4 / The surveillance footage from the China Mobile store (No. 324, Zhanqian Road, Yueyanglou District) above shows Li Ching-yu grabbing Hsiao I-min to signal that official Chou (first on the left) should walk ahead first.

5. When Chinese national security units launched their first smear campaign on September 15th, they still posted on Weibo under the guise of ordinary passersby, emphasizing that the photos were taken by a passerby on the street. After our team clarified the truth—that the photos were video stills from national security surveillance—their second smear campaign on the 18th directly leveraged the public authority of national security units to pull surveillance footage from the China Mobile store and disseminate it through internet trolls. In reality, Li Ching-yu and her entourage stayed at China Mobile for about half an hour, and the China Mobile store had several surveillance cameras. Why did national security units release only a three-second clip from a single camera? If national security units released the complete surveillance footage, it would show that during the half-hour stay, Li Ching-yu's entourage was anxiously trying to process telephone cards and contact court-appointed lawyers, and only engaged in holding hands and walking closely when they were about to leave and push past the monitoring of national security personnel. This latest video also corroborates the presence of Taiwan Affairs Office official Chou. Comparing it with the photo of official Chou released by our team, the handbag official Chou is holding in the video is the exact same handbag he carried at the airport, which contained the Mainland Travel Permits for Taiwan Residents belonging to Li Ching-yu and her entourage. The trousers and shoes worn by official Chou completely match the image in the lower-left corner of the photo from the first smear campaign, proving the flaw in the national security unit's deliberate photo editing.

6. Chinese national security units monitored Li Ching-yu's itinerary throughout and were fully aware of the above circumstances, yet repeatedly launched character assassination campaigns against Li Ching-yu through internet trolls, and may have even shown the photos to Lee Ming-che in an attempt to provoke Lee Ming-che's emotions. Our team calls upon the Chinese government to respond to the core inquiry of the Lee Ming-che case: why China regards Lee Ming-che—who exercised freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of association, and called for a multi-party democratic politics—as "subverting state power" and even coerced him into a forced confession. Unwilling to face this core issue, China instead resorted to sexual humiliation targeting Li Ching-yu's female identity. Such smear tactics may be very effective for authoritarian personalities accustomed to dictatorship and oblivious to justice, but to Taiwanese people accustomed to democracy and freedom, it merely breeds resentment. China broadcasted Lee Ming-che's grand trial in its entirety via Weibo, hoping to project a great-power image of "showcasing China's legal strength" and "teaching Taiwanese people to consciously abide by mainland laws." Yet this has now been completely undermined by the national security units' repeated fabrication of rumors. We call on the Chinese government to immediately halt the illegal acts of national security units, penalize the personnel at fault, clarify the facts, issue a public apology, and restore justice to Li Ching-yu and Hsiao I-min; otherwise, the Lee Ming-che Rescue Team does not rule out retaining lawyers to sue the Chinese government.