China Sentences Taiwan-Based Publisher Li Yanhe to Three Years for ‘Inciting Separatism’

March 26, 2025 – China – 

In a move drawing international condemnation, Chinese authorities have sentenced Li Yanhe, a Taiwan-based publisher and radio host known by his pen name Fucha, to three years in prison on charges of “inciting separatism.” Li was also fined 50,000 yuan (about $6,900) following a trial held after nearly two years of incommunicado detention. This verdict was announced on March 26, 2025.

Li Yanhe is the founder of Gusa Press in Taiwan and has been a vocal critic of the Chinese government’s policies. His arrest occurred in March 2023 during a visit to Shanghai where he intended to cancel his Chinese household registration, a bureaucratic process that underscores his complex legal and political status between Taiwan and mainland China. Since then, Li was held without access to legal counsel or communication with the outside world until the trial.

The sentencing has sparked outrage from press freedom advocates, human rights groups, and the Taiwanese government. Taiwan’s authorities condemned the verdict as an attempt to intimidate and silence dissent within its publishing and cultural sectors. They view this as part of a broader pattern by Beijing to extend its jurisdiction beyond its borders, targeting Taiwanese citizens to suppress political expression and curtail freedom of speech.

International watchdog organizations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have called for Li’s immediate release. They argue that the charges against him are politically motivated and part of a systematic crackdown on journalists, publishers, and activists who challenge the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative.

Li Yanhe’s case highlights the heightened risks faced by media professionals working across the fraught Taiwan-China divide, where legal and political pressures threaten freedom of expression. The international community continues to watch closely, urging China to respect human rights and uphold the fundamental right to free speech.

This incident underscores the ongoing struggle for press freedom in the region and the perilous climate for journalists who dare to speak out against authoritarian control.

Reference – 

https://rsf.org/en/china-rsf-calls-release-li-yanhe-taiwan-based-publisher-sentenced-three-years-prison

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/fears-grow-for-taiwan-book-publisher-li-yanhe-believed-held-in-china

China jails Taiwan-based publisher for 3 years on separatism charges