BEIJING • A Taiwanese activist who disappeared while on a visit to China will be put on open trial on Monday, according to the Chinese court authorities..
BEIJING • A Taiwanese activist who disappeared while on a visit to China will be put on open trial on Monday, according to the Chinese court authorities.
Lee Ming-che, a community college teacher and rights advocate, went missing on March 19 after entering Zhuhai city via Macau. The Chinese authorities later confirmed that he had been detained on suspicions of subverting state power, straining the already-tense ties between China and Taiwan.
Lee’s trial will begin first thing on Monday morning, at the Intermediate People’s Court of Yueyang city, in the central province of Hunan, a woman who answered the telephone at the court told Reuters yesterday.
The authorities have video-streamed or live-blogged more court proceedings in recent years as part of a push towards judicial transparency. But rights activists say that in sensitive cases, holding “open” hearings is a tool for the authorities to demonstrate state power and that usually the defendant has agreed to an outcome.
