Taiwanese activist jailed in mainland China returns home

Lee Ming-che, who gave online lectures about Taiwan’s democratisation, was given a five-year sentence for subversion of state power

He was the first person to be arrested after Beijing tightened its laws on foreign non-governmental organisations

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Lee Ming-che is escorted by epidemic prevention personnel after arriving at Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:50pm, 15 Apr 2022Updated: 2:18pm, 15 Apr 2022

A Taiwanese pro-democracy activist who spent five years in jail in mainland China returned to Taiwan on Friday morning, the island’s Central News Agency reported.

Lee Ming-che was arrested in 2017 and charged with subversion of state power. His arrest was mainland China’s first criminal prosecution of a non-profit worker since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organisations in 2016.

Lee had given online lectures on Taiwan’s democratisation and managed a fund for families of political prisoners in mainland China.

For the past five years, he served his sentence in a prison in central Hunan province. Lee arrived back in Taiwan on Friday morning, flying from the southern mainland city of Xiamen.

His arrest came as relations between mainland China and Taiwan soured, after the island elected Tsai Ing-wen as president. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has advocated for Taiwan’s formal independence.

Beijing cut off contact with Taiwan’s government after Tsai came into office and now sends military planes flying towards the island on a daily basis.