Wife Of Taiwanese Activist Li Ming-che Seeks US Help After China Denied Her Right To Visit Husband

Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-cheh's wife Lee Ching-yu and supporters in April 2017 (by VOA Cantonese via Wikimedia Commons)

On 28 November 2017 a Chinese court sentenced Taiwanese human-rights activist Lee Ming-che to five years in prison on charges of subverting state power. The charges were based on statements he had made criticizing the Chinese Communist regime. Li was the first foreign NGO worker detained after China adopted a new Foreign NGO Management Law.

On January 27 Li's wife, Li Ching-yü, received a notification from Chishan prison, in China's Hunan province, informing her that she will not be allowed to visit her husband for three months. The Chinese authorities allege that Li Ching-yü "distorted facts" at a press conference she held on 18 December 2018 after visiting her husband in prison.

The note stated that after visiting Like Ming-che, Li Ching-yü "distorted facts, made public statements that are seriously inconsistent with the truth, interfered with the normal law-enforcement work of the prison, and impeded Li Ming-che's reformation."

In 2017 the US Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) added Li Ming-che to its database of political prisoners.

Li Ching-yü is planning to travel to the United States next month and seek CECC's help.

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