TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Legislative Speaker You Si-Kun (游錫堃) has called for the release of a Chinese human rights lawyer who was detained in Laos during a transit stop.
Lu Siwei (盧思位) was arrested by Laotian police on July 28 on his way to Bangkok for a flight to the U.S. to join his wife and daughter. Lu was stripped of his legal license in early 2021 for providing legal counsel to Hong Kong pro-democracy activists detained in China, known as the "Hong Kong 12."
The group was intercepted in August 2020, attempting to flee the city for Taiwan by boat.
Later that year, Lu was barred from leaving China for a visiting fellowship in the U.S. and was informed of his exit ban. His wife and daughter have settled in Los Angeles, U.S., since 2022.
A year later, on July 23, Lu was arrested and detained in Laos. Lu's family members and activists are worried that he will be deported to China.
Lu's wife issued a statement calling for help from international organizations to save Lu from being sent back to China.
"Lu's experience shows the Chinese government can effectively exercise long-arm jurisdiction in arresting and suppressing Chinese dissidents overseas," Texas-based human rights group China Aid founder Bob Fu (傅希秋) said.
Earlier this year, members of the Mayflower Church, a persecuted religious group in China, were detained by Thailand police authorities and threatened with deportation back to China.
The church members were eventually taken to Texas and granted humanitarian parole status in April, along with the help of China Aid, several human rights organizations, and a dozen bipartisan U.S. Congress members. Taiwan's legislative speaker also called for global attention to the predicament of the group during its detention in Thailand.
On Saturday (Aug. 12), You urged Laos to comply with international laws and release Lu immediately, condemning the Chinese Communist Party's persecution against dissidents.
Ruled by the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), Laos restricts civil liberties and was listed as "Not Free" by Freedom House earlier this year. The government uses restrictive laws and intimidation against critics of the party and, as a result, self-censorship is a norm among local journalists.