Rights groups urge Trump to press for Taiwanese activist's release

Human rights groups in Taiwan on Tuesday urged US President Donald Trump, a day before his China visit, to demand the release of Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che detained in Beijing since March.

The groups organised a meeting with the press in which they repeated their call for the discharge of Lee, whose case was tried by a court in Hunan with the sentence expected to come out soon, reports Efe news.

Lee, who was arrested on arrival from Macau in March, confessed to criticising the Communist Party of China and spreading propaganda on Western democracy during the trial which Taiwanese activists described as staged.

"Although the sentences of similar cases usually take less than three months, this time it may take longer so that it does not coincide with Trump's visit to China," Chairman of Strategic Studies at Tamkang University, Li Da-jung told Efe.

Human rights activists in Taiwan believe that Lee can be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years or a maximum of a life sentence in prison.

Both Lee's wife and the rights groups launched an international campaign for Lee's release that even received backing from US congressmen and parliamentarians of the European Union.

Lee was an employee of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and is a professor at a community college and a volunteer in the non-profit group Covenant Watch in Taipei.

--IANS

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