China detains Taiwan activist who ‘taught’ ties over WeChat

BEIJING: China’s government said on Wednesday it has detained a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist and is investigating him on suspicion of “pursuing activities harmful to national security”.

Spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office Ma Xiaoguang said Lee Ming-che, 42, was in good health, but gave no information about where he was being held or other terms of his detention.

Lee disappeared after clearing immigration on March 19 in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory of Macau and never showed up for a planned meeting later that day with a friend across the border in China.

“Regarding Lee Ming-che’s case, because he is suspected of pursuing activities harmful to national security, the investigation into him is being handled in line with legal procedures,” Ma told reporters at a news briefing.

On Tuesday, a colleague of Lee’s said he may have attracted the attention of China’s security services after he used the social media platform WeChat to dis- cuss China-Taiwan relations.

Cheng Hsiu-chuan, president of Taipei’s Wenshan Community College where Lee has worked for the past year as a programme director, said Lee used WeChat to “teach” an unknown number of people about China-Taiwan relations under the government of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

“For China, the material he was teaching would be seen as sensitive,” Cheng said.

Responding to Ma’s comments, Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council said repeated requests have been made to China through both official and private channels for information about Lee, but none has been forthcoming.

A SPOKESPERSON SAID LEE IS SUSPECTED OF PURSUING ACTIVITIES HARMFUL TO NATIONAL SECURITY,