TAIPEI, China: After completing a five-year sentence, a Taiwanese activist jailed in China, Li Ming-che, returned to Taiwan last week.
Li, a community college lecturer and activist at a human rights non-governmental organization in Taiwan, disappeared while visiting China in 2017.
Later that year, a Chinese court found him guilty of subversion in a trial that his wife denounced as illegitimate, stressing that she was not allowed to hire lawyers for her husband.
In a statement, a group of Taiwanese human rights groups that campaigned for his release said Li landed at Taiwan’s main international airport in Taoyuan, and will have to complete a government-mandated quarantine.
This week, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Li’s sentence would soon be complete and he would be returned to Taiwan.
During his trial, Li admitted to criticizing China’s ruling Communist Party and sharing articles and arguments promoting Taiwan’s multi-party democracy.
The government in Beijing maintains that Taiwan is part of China and indicated it could use force to reunite the island with the mainland, while democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being governed by the Communist Party in Beijing.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said it was happy Li was home, stating, “The government believes that there is no crime in spreading democratic ideals.”
Li stood trial alongside 37-year-old Chinese national Peng Yuhua, who confessed to creating instant messaging groups and founding an organization that sought to promote political change in China.
