Lee Ming-che returns to Taiwan after completing sentence
On 28 November 2017, the Yueyang Intermediate Court in China’s Hunan Province declared Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che (李明哲) guilty on charges of “subverting state power”. He was sentenced to five years’ incarceration, with a two-year deprivation of political rights in China. During the verdict hearing, he waived his right of appeal. Chinese national Peng Yuhua (彭宇华), tried alongside the human rights defender, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on the same charges. Lee Ming-che has been held in incommunicado detention for over eight months since his arrest in Macau on 19 March 2017.
Lee Ming-che works as an administrator at Wenshan Community College, where he has maintained an active role in supporting human rights, democracy, and the work of non-government organizations. He is a member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party. Lee Ming-che’s activism focuses on both Taiwan and China; he maintains a chat forum on transitional justice in Taiwan, and he has provided advocacy and other support for families of human rights lawyers in China.
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- 19 April 2022 : Lee Ming-che returns to Taiwan after completing sentence
- 30 November 2017 : Lee Ming-che sentenced to five years’ imprisonment
- 13 September 2017 : Lee Ming-che on trial
- 29 May 2017 : Lee Ming-che formally arrested by Chinese authorities
- 28 March 2017 : Lee Ming-che detained by Chinese authorities
On 15 April 2022, Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che returned to Taiwan after completing a five-year arbitrary sentence in mainland China.
In a joint statement released after his return, the human rights defender and his wife, Lee Ching-yu, thanked individuals and organisations, both in Taiwan and elsewhere, for having supported him and campaigned for his release over the last five years. They said although their own ordeal has ended, countless people continue to suffer human rights violations in mainland China.
On 28 November 2017, the Yueyang Intermediate Court in China’s Hunan Province declared Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che (李明哲) guilty on charges of “subverting state power”. He was sentenced to five years’ incarceration, with a two-year deprivation of political rights in China. During the verdict hearing, he waived his right of appeal. Chinese national Peng Yuhua (彭宇华), tried alongside the human rights defender, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on the same charges. Lee Ming-che has been held in incommunicado detention for over eight months since his arrest in Macau on 19 March 2017.
Prior to his arrest, Lee Ming-che worked as an administrator at Wenshan Community College, where he maintained an active role in supporting human rights, democracy, and the work of non-governmental organisations. He is also a member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party. The human rights defender’s activism focuses on both Taiwan and China. He previously maintained a chat forum on transitional justice in Taiwan and provided advocacy and other support for families of Chinese human rights lawyers detained by Chinese authorities.
Lee Ming-che is the first Taiwanese citizen to be convicted under China’s “subverting state power” charge. He is also the first overseas non-government organisation (NGO) worker to be arrested under the Chinese “Overseas NGO Management Law” since it came into effect in early 2017. Lee Ming-che’s supporters believe that the defender’s arrest was intended, in part, to signal Chinese authorities’ commitment to limiting unsanctioned involvement in Chinese human rights issues by overseas actors.
Since his arrest in the Macau International Airport on 19 March 2017, the human rights defender has been refused any communication with family or non-state-affiliated legal counsel. During his 11 September trial, Lee Ming-che confessed to disseminating “theories that maliciously attacked and defamed the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party and China’s current political system,” as well as “inciting the subversion of state power” through the promotion of Western-style democracy in social media and instant messaging chat groups. Lee Ming-che’s family believes that he was coerced into making these confessions, a common tactic used by Chinese authorities in the harassment, intimidation, and de-legitimisation of human rights defenders. Following the 11 September trial, Yueyang Court released footage of the confessions online.
Front Line Defenders believes that China’s judicial harassment of Lee Ming-che is solely a tool to deter his peaceful work supporting civil rights in China and to intimidate others who labour in support of the rights of Chinese citizens. Front Line Defenders calls on the Chinese government to end their persecution of the human rights defender and immediately restore his freedom.
On 11 September 2017, at 9:30am the Yueyang Intermediate Court in China’s Hunan Province tried Lee Ming-che (李明哲) on the charge of “subverting state power”. The human rights defender pleaded guilty to the charges. Lee Ming-che’s wife and other associates believe that his confession was made under the compulsion of Chinese authorities. The defender has been held in incommunicado detention since his arrest on 19 March 2017.
During the hearing, Lee Ming-che pleaded guilty to the charges against him. Lee Ming-che confessed that he had “disseminated articles and essays that maliciously attacked and defamed the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party and China’s current political system,” and that he had “incited the subversion of state power.” This confession was filmed and released online. Lee Ming-che’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), and other associates believe that the human rights defender’s confession was made under the compulsion of Chinese authorities. The defender has been held in incommunicado detention since his arrest on 19 March 2017.
Information about Lee Ming-che’s status and whereabouts has been extremely limited since his arrest. Lee Ming-che’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, only learned of his trial date on 7 September 2017, via notification from Taiwan’s cross-strait coordination agency, the Mainland Affairs Council. Prior to the announcement of the court date, Lee Ching-yu had intended to participate in a meeting with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances on 12 September, during the 36th session Human Rights Council in Geneva. Upon learning of her husband’s court date, Lee Ching-yu was forced to cancel her visit.
Front Line Defenders condemns the trial of Lee Ming-che and the continued deprivation of his liberty. Front Line Defenders calls on Chinese authorities to immediately release Lee Ming-che and drop all charges against him as it believes that the defender has been targeted solely as a result of his legitimate human rights work.
According to a news announcement published Friday evening, 26 May 2017, authorities of China’s Hunan Province have arrested Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che (李明哲). Family, friends, and several Taiwanese NGOs have been seeking information on Lee Ming-che’s status and whereabouts since he was detained by Chinese authorities during a trip to the People’s Republic of China on 19 March 2017. The defender is being held on suspicion of subverting state power, a serious offence under Chinese law and a judicial instrument frequently employed by the Chinese state to target human rights defenders.
Although Lee Ming-che disappeared on 19 March 2017, his family only learned of his detention eight days later, when Taiwanese authorities informed the defender’s wife that he had been placed under investigation by Chinese State Security forces. Since that time, the defender’s family, colleagues, and local and international NGOs have campaigned for Lee Ming-che’s release, as well as for information on his location and the circumstances of his detention.
Seventy-one days after his disappearance, Chinese media reported that Lee Ming-che was under suspicion of the crime of subverting state power, and that he had been formally arrested by the authorities of China’s Hunan Province. A spokesperson for the Chinese State Security, An Fengshan, stated that the defender had been establishing illegal organisations and planning and carrying out subversive activities inside mainland China since 2012. The report also stated that the defender had already fully confessed under interrogation.
The defender has remained incommunicado since his disappearance on 19 March 2017. Under Chinese law, authorities can detain an arrested individual for a seven-month investigation period, starting from the date of arrest. In cases involving the charge of subverting state power, Chinese authorities frequently use the pretext of “state secrecy” to forbid lawyers from visiting or communicating in any way with their clients. Under these opaque conditions of detention, Lee Ming-che faces a high risk of continued violation of his procedural rights, as well as risk of torture, mistreatment, and attempts to procure forced confessions.
On 27 March 2017, nine days after the disappearance of Taiwanese human rights defender, Lee Ming-che (李明哲), it was confirmed that he is currently being detained by the Chinese authorities. The human rights defender was travelling to the People’s Republic of China in a personal capacity, related to the illness of a close family member.
Download the Urgent Appeal (PDF)
On 27 March 2017, Lee Ming-che’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, received notice from the Taiwanese authorities that the human rights defender had been detained by Chinese state security forces, nine days after his disappearance. Family and friends have been searching for information about Lee Ming-che’s whereabouts since 19 March 2017 when he failed to meet a friend who had travelled to greet him in the arrivals hall of the Macau International Airport. Lee Ming-che had boarded an Evergreen Airlines flight from Taiwan to the Macau Special Administrative Region at approximately 8 am on Sunday, 19 March 2017 and was scheduled to land in Macau at 10:40 am. Family members were also able to learn from immigration records that, despite not appearing in the Macau airport, Lee Ming-che had crossed from the island of Macau onto the Chinese mainland later in the morning of 19 March 2017. This crossing likely took place in the company of Chinese state security.
In addition to Lee Ming-che’s deprivation of liberty, he also faces an elevated health risk while in detention. The human rights defender suffers from high blood pressure, and his wife has expressed serious concerns about Lee Ming-che’s access to medication.
Front Line Defenders expresses immense concern and strongly condemns the abduction and incommunicado detention of Lee Ming-che as it is believed that they are solely as a result of his peaceful activities encouraging the work of human rights defenders, civil society, and non-government organizations.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in China to:
1. Immediately and unconditionally release Lee Ming-che;
2. Ensure that the treatment of Lee Ming-che, while in detention, adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment', adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988;
3. Guarantee Lee Ming-che’s access to representatives of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the Taiwanese body responsible for issues of shared concern between Taiwan and China;
4. Inform the family and lawyer of Lee Ming-che of the place of his detention and the reason for his detention, and allow them immediate and unfettered access to him;
5. Provide all necessary medical treatment for Lee Ming-che;
6. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
