Hundreds of Taiwanese ‘disappear’ in China over past 10 years
Read related stories in Mandarin: 10年来857名台湾人在中国被失踪或任意逮捕 and 强迫失踪在中国:纪念日背后的无尽悲痛与抗争 More than 800 nationals of democratic Taiwan have “disappeared” over the past 10 years in China, which has long used forced disappearances to silence and control its own dissidents and rights activists, rights groups said on Friday. Figures compiled by the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and several other non-government groups showed that 857 Taiwan nationals have been “forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily arrested” in China, activists told a joint news conference in Taipei. They include publisher Li Yanhe (pen name Fu Cha), detained in Shanghai since April 2023, democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh, who served a five-year jail term in Hunan province for “attempting to subvert state power,” and businessman Lee Meng-Chu, jailed for nearly two years for “espionage” after he snapped photos of People’s Armed Police personnel at a Shenzhen hotel at the height of the 2019 Hong Kong protests. Speaking on the United Nations’ International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Taiwan Association for Human Rights chief Eeling Chiu called on China to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law. “China should … immediately release those who have been forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained,” Chiu told journalists, calling on the Taiwan authorities to ratify United Nations conventions against torture and enforced disappearances as soon as possible. “[They should also] actively assist the families of those who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in China and set up assistance mechanisms for them,” she said. Members of a support group for disappeared Taiwanese publisher Fu Cha hold up signs calling for his release to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Aug. 30, 2024. (Huang Chun-mei/RFA) Activist Wang Chia-hsuan of a petition group in support of Li Yanhe, or Fu Cha, said Li was born in China but had permanent residency in Taiwan at the time of his disappearance, having lived in Taipei for more than a decade. He has been incommunicado for 527 days, and has been detained on suspicion of “incitement to secession,” Wang said. He called on Taipei municipal authorities to step up efforts to communicate with the Chinese authorities regarding Li’s case. Lee Ming-cheh told the news conference that his disappearance and subsequent jailing put huge pressure on his family back home. “Collaborators with the Chinese government in Taiwan warned my wife off talking to Taiwanese NGOs or speaking out publicly about my case, saying they would allow her to travel to China to visit me [if she complied],” he said. “If she spoke publicly about my case, she wouldn’t be allowed to go to China,” Lee said, accusing the Chinese government of abusing current crime cooperation agreements with Taiwan to persecute its residents. Negotiating is key Ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Puma Shen said the Taiwanese authorities could do a better job of negotiating in the early stages of such cases. “Government officials … should call on China for more appropriate handling of [such] cases,” Shen said. “If that doesn’t happen, then we should cut off communication [with China].” “If we continue to communicate past that point, there will be no deterrence at all … and it will send the message that it’s OK if our people keep disappearing,” he said. Taiwanese publisher Li Yanhe in an undated photo. (Fu Cha via Facebook) Meanwhile, Taiwanese lawmaker Hung Shen-han warned that it’s not only Taiwanese who are at risk of arbitrary arrest and “disappearance” in China. “The risk to individuals of being disappeared and prosecuted in China don’t just apply to Taiwanese,” Hung said, adding that some democratic countries have issued travel advisories to their citizens on the matter. “The Chinese government uses its laws, along with various undemocratic and unsupervised practices, to threaten the personal safety of people from all countries who go to China,” he said. “Chinese citizens themselves face the same problem.” Geng He, the U.S.-based wife of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng said it has been seven years since he “disappeared” on Aug. 13, 2017. “Gao Zhisheng has been missing for seven years and 17 days, with no news or explanation, neither verbal nor written,” she told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “They deploy the whole state apparatus in its entirety to target people like Gao Zhisheng who speak the truth and work on behalf of the people,” Geng said. The couple’s entire family has also been affected, she said. “My entire family’s ID cards have been confiscated for the past 15 years now,” Geng said. “This has caused great inconvenience to my family in terms of their ability to work, go about their lives, access medical treatment and travel.” “They’re being controlled to death,” Geng said. “Basically, they can’t leave their homes.” Gao’s sister died by suicide in May 2020, while his brother-in-law also took his own life after being forced to beg the authorities to “borrow” his own ID card so he can access his cancer medication. Disappeared Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng in an undated photo. (Weiquanwang) Veteran rights lawyer Bao Longjun said the authorities have also “disappeared” his wife Wang Yu, also a prominent rights attorney, on several occasions in recent years. She was incommunicado for several hours on Wednesday during the trial of rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and activist Xu Yan in Suzhou. “I feel like it’s about ruling the country through terror,” Bao told RFA Mandarin. “There is no legal basis for [enforced disappearances].” “If you are even slightly disobedient, they will immediately bring state power to bear, forcibly restricting your freedom, and controlling you to achieve what they think is stability,” he said. Uyghurs and Tibetans Chinese authorities have also forcibly disappeared Uyghurs and Tibetans in the far-western part of mainland China. An estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang under flimsy pretexts during mass incarcerations that began more than seven years ago in an effort by Chinese authorities to prevent religious extremism, separatism and terrorism. Former Xinjiang University President Tashpolat Teyip, who himself vanished in 2017…