BEIJING: A Chinese court has sentenced to five years in prison a Taiwanese activist who conducted online lectures on Taiwan’s democratization and managed a fund for families of political prisoners in China.
The Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court in central China handed down the sentence against Lee Ming-che Tuesday after finding him guilty of subversion of state power.
Lee was detained in southern China on March 19 and was tried in September. Lee confessed to the charge during his trial, which his wife dismissed as “a political show.”
Subversion of state power is a vaguely defined charge often used by authorities to muzzle dissent and imprison critics.
Lee Ming-che’s trial marked China’s first criminal prosecution of a nonprofit worker since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations.
China sentences Taiwan activist to 5 years for subversion
Updated 28 November 2017
China sentences Taiwan activist to 5 years for subversion
