Lee tried to bargain with Chinese government so Lee Ming-che could attend father's funeral

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/25
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Earlier this week on Monday (Sept. 23), the wife of imprisoned Taiwanese

human rights activist Lee Ming-che (李明哲) asked authorities in China to grant him temporary release to return to Taiwan to mourn the death of his father who passed away on Aug. 17.

Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), wife of Lee Ming-che, issued a statement Monday before boarding a flight to China to petition Chinese authorities directly. According to reports, Beijing has responded to Lee Ching-yu, denying her request to release the imprisoned Lee, declaring that granting such a request would be unlawful.

In her statement, Lee Ching-yu cited Chinese law, which says that the convicted are entitled to attend the funeral of their parents. Lee also offered to act “as a hostage” to make her own freedom collateral in order to convince Chinese authorities that her husband could be trusted to return.
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