One-Year Anniversary of Li Ming-che's Sentencing: Civil Society Gathers for Press Conference to Defend Taiwan's Freedom and Human Rights

From the controversies at this year's Golden Horse Awards to the results of the November 24 elections and referendums, all these events reflect China's growing influence on Taiwan, as well as its increasing impact on Taiwan's human rights and freedom of speech. At the Golden Horse Awards ceremony, Taiwanese documentary-winning director Fu Yu's statement, 'I hope Taiwan can be treated as an independent entity,' drew far more criticism and scrutiny than Chinese directors and actors calling the venue 'Chinese Taipei' during the ceremony.

At the November 28 press conference, attendees included director Chou Shih-lun from the arts and cultural sector, director Li Hui-jen, Legislator Yu Mei-nu, Chang Shu-hui from the Obasan Alliance, Legislator Freddy Lim (Lin Chang-chuo) of the New Power Party, Tsewang Dolma and Penpa Tsering of the Tibetan Youth Congress, Liu Lu-na, Deputy Chairperson of Amnesty International Taiwan, Sun Yu-lien of the Taiwan Association for Patriotic Workers (Taiwan Labour Front), Hung Chung-yen of the Taiwan Forever Association, Cheng Hsiu-chuan of Wenshan Community College, Chang Chih of the Judicial Reform Foundation, Lin Hsin-yi of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Huang Yi-pi of the Covenants Watch, Wu Chia-chen of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) - Tibet, Li Peng-xuan of Students for a Free Tibet - Taiwan, Pan Yi of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) East Asia Office, and Chiu I-ling of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR). They announced that they were gathering today, on the one-year anniversary of Li Ming-che's 'unfair trial,' to tell Taiwan and the international community that the people of Taiwan must stand up and defend their own freedom of speech and human rights!

Taiwanese citizen Li Ming-che was arbitrarily arrested and disappeared after entering China from Macau last March, marking 619 days of detention. On November 28 last year, Li was sentenced by China to five years in prison under the charge of 'subversion of state power' based on his online commentary on Facebook, WeChat, and QQ. Since March of this year, his family has been able to visit him once a month, totaling five visits so far. However, after September of this year, the family was denied visitation for two consecutive months. In October, they learned through the Taiwan Businessmen Association in China that Li had been transferred to another prison. Visitation was again denied in November, plunging Li Ming-che once more into total isolation, with his safety and health status deeply concerning.

Director Li Hui-jen stated that although people often say art is art and politics is politics, art and politics are inseparable. Recently, Lu Guang, a well-known Chinese photographer who documented social issues such as environmental pollution in China, traveled to Xinjiang at the end of October and lost contact on the evening of November 3. His family has yet to receive any detention documents. This demonstrates that politics continues to affect artists' creative work and personal freedom.

Tsewang Dolma, Executive Committee Member of the Tibetan Youth Congress, also expressed solidarity with Taiwan. He noted that both Taiwan and Tibet face oppression from China and thus deeply empathize with each other, hoping to fight alongside the people of Taiwan to defend democracy and human rights.

Liu Lu-na, Deputy Chairperson of Amnesty International Taiwan, stated that AI launched a global urgent action on the evening of November 21 Taiwan time, strongly condemning China's persecution of prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International also demands that the Chinese government immediately and unconditionally release Li Ming-che, ensure he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and guarantee regular and unrestricted access to his family and necessary medical resources during his detention.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) issued an urgent appeal statement on November 15, once again calling on the international community to pay attention to Li Ming-che's return to an 'incommunicado detention status.' It also urged China to disclose Li Ming-che's current location, immediately and unconditionally release him, and ensure his physical and mental well-being.

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) has also repeatedly written to inquire about the situation of Li Ming-che and his family's visits, stating that it has taken action against the Chinese government. Embassies of various countries have also expressed their concerns one after another. The Taiwan Li Ming-che Rescue Team and various supporting groups once again call on the Taiwanese government to take active measures and raise its voice to the international community to ensure Li Ming-che's safety.

Legislator Yu Mei-nu stated that as long as Li Ming-che is not released, we will continuously hold press conferences. In November, China underwent the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations. The official UN report also cited reports from Taiwanese human rights organizations noting that since Xi Jinping took office, China's crackdown on human rights has reached its most severe level, drawing widespread attention and condemnation from the international community. We demand that China immediately and unconditionally release Li Ming-che, and until then, guarantee his family's right to visitation, freedom from torture, and the right to health and medical care. As long as China does not release Li Ming-che, domestic and international friends concerned about Li Ming-che will continue to unite and step forward to demand his immediate release.

Freddy Lim of the New Power Party stated that he will use his supervisory power in parliament to demand that the central government seize every opportunity to mention Li Ming-che during any exchanges or meetings with Chinese officials, to defend Taiwan's democratic and human rights values, and furthermore, to swiftly pass a refugee act to highlight the differences in human rights values between Taiwan and China.

Chiu I-ling of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights stated that prior to the APEC summit, the Li Ming-che Rescue Team had urged Taiwan's officially appointed representative to appeal to Xi Jinping and leaders of various countries at the meeting for the release of Li Ming-che. Unfortunately, the representative sent by Taiwan did not utter a single word about it during the meeting. However, Taipei City will also host the 'Taipei-Shanghai City Forum' (Twin-City Forum) next month, and China will send a delegation to Taiwan. Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, the Chinese government has once again severed official communications with Taiwan, leaving Taiwanese government agencies helpless and lacking communication channels regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of Li Ming-che. The Li Ming-che Rescue Team and all group representatives present jointly call upon the Taiwanese government to speak up for Li Ming-che during such opportunities as the 'Twin-City Forum,' and to protest the arbitrary prison transfer and denial of family visits. Especially Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, who has previously uttered phrases like 'Both sides of the strait are one family' and has been embroiled in controversies regarding organ harvesting in China, should show the stature of a mayor of Taiwan's capital at this moment and engage in direct communication and dialogue with China.

Chang Shu-hui of the Obasan Alliance and the Parent-Child Learning Group stated that everyone is a target of China. When the brutal Chinese regime arrives, it will spare no one. Can we teach our children to compromise their dignity and surrender their human rights to get by? If we think this is wrong and cannot bring ourselves to tell our children that, we must stand up and protest now. We call on China to return Li Ming-che. We will never compromise in defending the democratic and human rights treatment of Taiwan's children.

Sun Yu-lien of the Taiwan Labour Front explained that the Li Ming-che Rescue Team will launch '#365LettersToMingcheFromTaiwanese,' encouraging people in Taiwan to write a letter to Ming-che every day, and even allowing people abroad to participate in this action. Participants can post their letters on their personal Facebook walls and tag the Facebook group page '#FindLiMingche.'