I was studying in Japan when the 1989 student-led democracy movement broke out in China, culminating in the violent suppression on June 4 of students camped out in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
At the time, Chinese students in Japan wanted to hold a demonstration, but on June 9, then-Chinese premier Li Peng (李鵬) appeared on television, warning Chinese students in other countries not to take part in protests and saying that they would be responsible for any serious consequences if they did so.
He also said that anyone who informed on protesters would be well rewarded.
This made the students responsible for
Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), imprisoned by Chinese authorities on false charges, was finally released and returned to Taiwan last month. A human rights advocate, Lee was charged with “subversion of state power” and sentenced to five years behind bars.
There is also the case of Morrison Lee (李孟居), a political consultant to Pingtung County’s Fangliao Township (枋寮), who was accused of espionage by the Chinese authorities, sentenced to 22 months in prison and deprived of his “political rights” (prevented from leaving China) for a further two years.
To date, Morrison Lee has been detained in China for nearly three years