AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

24 March 2017

Taiwan NGO Worker Missing after Crossing Macao Border to China

Lee Ming-cheh, an NGO worker from Taipei, went missing after he crossed the Gongbei border from Macao to Zhuhai, China. He was last heard from on 19 March.

Lee, who works at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, has been supporting civil society organizations and activists in China for many years, although this time he went to China for personal matters, arranging for his mother-in-law’s medical treatment.

“The fact that Lee Ming-cheh has gone missing once again raises serious questions about the safety of people working with civil society in China,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s East Asia Director.

“Lee’s family needs to hear from both the Chinese and the Taiwanese authorities about what is being done to find or disclose his whereabouts.”

Lee’s wife contacted the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macao for assistance, who confirmed that Lee left Macao. The Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation is helping to find him. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council confirmed that Lee entered China at 23:51 on 19 March but there has been no record of check-in at hotel or record of arrest.