67 of 149 reported cases remain unsolved: Straits Exchange Foundation
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/19
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Lee Ming-che, reported missing in 2017, currently detained in China
Lee Ming-che, reported missing in 2017, currently detained in China (By Associated Press)
Of the 149 cases reported since May 20, 2016, 82 people have been accounted for. However, 67 cases remain unsolved with no information as to the missing people’s whereabouts. SEF spokesperson Tsai Meng-chun (蔡孟君) addressed the issue in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 19).
In most cases, the disappearances were found to be related to death, detention, or serious injury, according to the SEF. In some cases, a Chinese agency called the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) has assisted in providing the information, but for the 67 who remain unaccounted for, the information is either insufficient or has been withheld by the Chinese government.
Recent news stories have brought increased attention to Taiwanese persons who have gone missing across the strait. In August, a Taiwanese man named Morrison Lee (李孟居), who was visiting Hong Kong to participate in the pro-democracy protests, vanished for nearly two weeks before it was revealed by China’s Foreign Ministry that he is in Chinese custody for “committing criminal activities that jeopardize national security.” [FULL STORY]
