TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The government should contact countries that have extradition treaties with China or Hong Kong to prevent Taiwanese citizens from ending up in prison for supposed Taiwan Independence activities, human rights campaigner Lee Ming-che (李明哲) said Saturday (Dec. 10).
The activist disappeared in 2017 after crossing from Macau into China. The communist authorities only admitted much later he had been detained, with a court sentencing him to five years in prison for subversive activities. He returned to Taiwan last April.
Speaking at an event marking International Human Rights Day on Saturday, Lee warned that in the near future, Taiwanese citizens listed by China as supporters of independence for Taiwan might be detained and handed over to the communist country by nations that have extradition treaties with Beijing or Hong Kong.
It was vital that Taiwan’s government act as soon as possible to contact those countries through diplomatic channels, and make the results of those contacts public, Lee said. He added that during his five years in a Chinese jail, he met several Taiwanese who had been extradited from Spain in connection with online scams, the Liberty Times reported.
Similarly, supposed sympathizers of independence for Taiwan might go on holiday to another country and be detained for their political beliefs just because China had an extradition treaty with that country, Lee warned.
