BEIJING: China says it is investigating a Taiwan-based publisher, who went missing while visiting Shanghai last month, for allegedly “endangering national security”.
Li Yanhe, who is the editor-in-chief of Gusa Publishing and uses the pen name Fucha, published books critical of China.
Beijing’s confirmation of Li’s detention ends days of speculation about his whereabouts.
It comes a day after authorities formally pressed charges of “secession” against an activist and leader of a small Taiwan political party, Yang Chih-yuan.
Taipei has criticised Beijing’s “arbitrary arrests” of Taiwan residents as human rights breaches.
Friends say Li had arrived in China earlier this month to visit relatives and attend Qing Ming, the annual Chinese tomb-sweeping festival.
Reports about his disappearance emerged almost a week ago. Zhu Fenglian from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Li’s rights would be respected during the investigation.
Dozens of writers, scholars and activists have demanded his release.
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club on Monday called in China to “respect the freedom of the press that it enshrines in its constitution, and to free all unjustly imprisoned media workers”.
China sees self-governing Taiwan as a part of its territory and insists it should be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The democratically-ruled island has its own constitution and about 300,000 active troops in its armed forces.
Taiwan is recognised only by a few countries, with most recognising the Chinese government in Beijing instead. The United States has no official ties with Taiwan but does have a law which requires it to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
