‘Taiwanese NGO worker detained by Chinese security units’

TAIPEI: A Taiwanese NGO worker who promoted democracy in China and went missing after visiting the mainland earlier this month has been detained there, his wife said on Tuesday. Lee Ming-cheh, 42, "lost contact" on March 19 after he entered the southeastern Chinese city of Zhuhai from Macau, according to Taiwan’s government. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top policymaking body on China, said Chinese authorities had not responded to their enquiries about Lee’s whereabouts. But Lee’s wife, citing "indirect official information", said he had been detained by security units of the Chinese government. "I hope China will notify the family on what charges Lee has been detained or arrested and allow us to visit him," Lee Ching-yu said in a statement. MAC vice chairman Chiu Chui-cheng also urged "relevant mainland units to confirm Lee’s situation as soon as possible to give the family an answer". Ties between China and Taiwan have worsened since President Tsai Ing-wen took office last May, and Beijing has cut off all official communication with Taipei. Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949 following a civil war on the mainland, but it has never formally declared independence and Beijing still claims it as part of its territory. Chinese authorities deeply mistrust Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is traditionally pro-independence. Lee, a former DPP employee, had been sharing "Taiwan’s democratic experiences" with his Chinese friends online for many years and often mailed books to them, according to the Taiwan Association for Human Rights. Lee, who works for a community college in Taipei, has long supported civil society organisations and activists in China, according to Amnesty International. It said he went there this time to arrange for his motherin- law’s medical treatment. Amnesty said his disappearance "raises serious questions about the safety of people working with civil society in China". Taiwan authorities say Zhuhai police have previously told Lee’s family there is no record of his arrest. However Taiwanese rights groups said the Chinese government should prove that Lee is not under arrest. They cited the case of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing in 2015 and resurfaced in detention on the mainland.