Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe has been convicted on secession charges in Shanghai after nearly two years of detention, according to Taiwanese media.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Monday confirmed that Li was indicted on secession charges and “faced a public trial in accordance with the law”, with the court delivering a first-instance verdict on February 17.
Li was sentenced by the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court, according to the report. The TAO did not provide further details of the verdict or sentencing in its statement to the Taiwanese press.
The TAO has not replied to a request from the Post for details.
Li, born in Liaoning province on the mainland, served as the editor-in-chief of Taiwan’s Gusa Publishing. He was well known by his pen name Fu Cha within the Taiwanese publishing industry.
Books published by Gusa include many works critical of Beijing’s policies, including its crackdown on the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests of 1989.