China denies entry to detained Taiwanese activist's wife

The wife of a Taiwanese human rights activist arrested in China could not travel to Beijing on Monday after her entry permit into the country was revoked.

Lee Ching-yu, whose husband Lee Ming-che has been detained since March 19 at an undisclosed location in China for alleged acts against national security, told the media at Taipei airport that she will not allow herself to be manipulated, Efe news reported.

"My husband needs freedom, but also dignity, because without it he would live like a dog," she said.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council announced Sunday that it had put an organisation, which it did not name, in charge of messages from Lee Ming-che to his wife and parents.

 

In a statement on Sunday, Lee Ching-yu revealed that an intermediary from China had warned her that if she flew to Beijing, a confession by her husband would be aired on television, and had ordered her to maintain a low profile and cooperate.

She said she would not recognise any confession or statement by her husband before seeing him personally, adding that she had been passed a photocopy of an alleged confession on April 7.

Lee Ming-che, a human rights activist and former worker for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, was arrested after entering China through the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province during a private visit.

--IANS

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