Taiwan activist stands trial in China for state subversion

YUEYANG, China (AP) — The trial of a Taiwanese activist accused of subversion of state power began Monday in central China, the first prosecution of a nonprofit worker on criminal charges since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations.

Security was tight for the trial at the Yueyang City Intermediate People's Court, with barricades on the streets, dozens of security personnel patrolling the perimeter and reporters ordered to leave the area.

Lee is accused of subversion of state power, a vaguely defined charge often used by authorities to muzzle dissent and imprison critics.

His wife, Lee Ching-yu, arrived at the courthouse Monday morning.

Before leaving Taiwan over the weekend, Lee Ching-yu said her husband might be pressured into pleading guilty.

"I want to ask my fellow countrymen for their understanding if they see Lee Ming-che do or say anything unbearable in court outside of his free will," she told reporters. "This is just the Chinese government being adept at the performance."

China's wide-ranging crackdown on civil society has featured a string of televised "confessions" — believed to have been coerced — from human rights activists accused of plots to overthrow the political system.

Lee Ming-che, 42, has conducted online lectures on Taiwan's democratization and managed a fund for families of political prisoners in China. He cleared immigration in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory of Macau on March 19 but never showed for a planned meeting with a friend later that day.

Amnesty International and other rights organizations have called for Lee Ming-che's immediate release.

The new law says foreign NGOs must not endanger China's national security and ethnic unity and subjects nonprofit groups to close police supervision. It is seen as an attempt to clamp down on perceived threats to the ruling Communist Party's control.

Relations between Taiwan and China have been near an all-time low since the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has advocated Taiwan's formal independence. China cut off contacts with Taiwan's government in June, five months after Tsai was elected.