BEIJING • A Chinese court sentenced Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh to five years in prison on Tuesday on charges of attempting to subvert state power, further souring cross-strait ties..
BEIJING • A Chinese court sentenced Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh to five years in prison on Tuesday on charges of attempting to subvert state power, further souring cross-strait ties.
Lee sat nervously as the three-judge panel read the sentence at the Yueyang intermediate people’s court in Hunan province, according to a video posted on the tribunal’s social media account.
Taiwan and human rights groups immediately denounced the ruling as „unacceptable“ and „politically motivated“.
Lee – a non-government organisation worker who was arrested during a trip to the Chinese mainland in March – is the first Taiwanese person to be convicted in China on the political charge, according to Taiwan’s Judicial Reform Foundation.
A Chinese co-defendant named Peng Yuhua was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The court said both men stated that they would not appeal against their sentences.
President Xi Jinping, who consolidated power at a Communist Party congress last month, has cracked down on dissent and tightened control on civil society since taking office in 2012.
