It seems almost a weekly occurrence now, another foreign national has disappeared in China. This time it is Morrison Lee (李孟居). Lee, a Taiwanese man from Pingtung county who vanished last month after traveling to Hong Kong.

外國公民在中國被扣留甚至消失,儼然已成為一星期發生一次的例行公事。這一次,則是於上個月前往香港旅遊的台灣屏東縣枋寮鄉政顧問—李孟居。

It was reported that Lee was visiting Hong Kong on vacation and participated in the ongoing protests, which are in their 13th week. This is according to Archer Chen (陳亞麟) who is the chief of Fangliao township and discussed the situation with Bloomberg. Lee also maintains a position as a voluntary advisor to the township. 

根據枋寮鄉長陳亞麟向彭博社透露,同時身為推廣枋寮志工顧問的李孟居,此次前往香港,主要是旅遊度假,並關心近日已為期十三週的「反送中」事件。

Lee traveled to Hong Kong on August 8. He was reportedly planning on traveling to Shenzhen two days later. Keep in mind this is the same place where Simon Cheng was recently detained for 15 days under dubious circumstances. 

李孟居於八月八日前往香港,並計劃於兩天之後赴中國深圳—然而,這也是不久前,英國駐港領事館員工— Simon Cheng(鄭文傑),在無預警且不明原因之下,被中國拘留消失15日的地方。

CCP officials have yet to inform their Taiwanese counterparts of Lee’s detention and have, so far, flat out refused to release any statement whatsoever. The Chinese government is required to pass along any details pertaining to Taiwanese citizens taken into custody in China as a part of a bilateral agreement. Though it would be no great revelation if they were holding him, as they almost certainly are, and refrained from informing the Taiwanese government.

根據海基及海協兩會曾簽署的「海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪與司法互助協議」,以及兩岸對於人身自由安全保障的共識,中國政府若監禁拘留台灣公民,應提出理由及證據資料。雖然仍沒有實質證據,但李孟居被中國政府拘留的可能性極大,且至目前為止,中國政府不願說明是否拘留李孟居,也尚未作出任何回應。

 

Taiwanese representatives, for their part, have been searching for more information on Lee and his current situation. Chiu Chui-cheng, the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister said that China has yet to respond to requests for information from the Taiwanese government. MAC Minister, Chen Ming-tong, went further and criticized the CCP. He rebuked China for continuing to use its three strategies of “united front, armed struggle, and party building,” saying that they are faced with challenges from all sides. He called on China to begin honoring human rights in order to rid itself of these issues. While it is good to see the Taiwanese government take a strong stance against CCP authoritarianism, Lee’s status still remains in the dark.

然而,台灣許多相關代表人士仍持續關注此事件。陸委會副主委兼發言人—邱垂正表示,已向中國政府通報此失聯案件,但中方至今未回覆。陸委會主委—陳明通更斥責中國政府:「中國已面臨內外各方面挑戰,卻仍堅守毛澤東提出的革命三大法寶—統一戰線,武裝鬥爭,黨的建設。」並呼籲中方重視人權,才能解決其所遇到的各種問題。雖然很開心看到台灣政府對中共政權採取堅定態度,但李孟居的去向仍是一個未知數。

The CCP did the same thing with Simon Cheng, who was thankfully released after 15 days of incarceration, he was never formally charged. Cheng was simply held under administrative detention, as Lee likely is. Administrative detention allows for ‘suspects’ to be held for reasons that are not tantamount to criminal trespasses such as suspicious activity. It essentially amounts to 15 days of time under which to trump up charges or at least a story with which to discredit, or run the detainee’s reputation through the mud.

中共在不久前,也以同樣手法監禁Simon Cheng(鄭文傑)長達15天之久;幸運地是,Simon Cheng已平安地被釋放返港。中國政府皆以「行政拘留」為理由,拘留Simon Cheng 與李孟居。在中國,所謂的「行政拘留」,是根據「治安管理處罰法」實施的監禁處罰,由公安機關直接裁定,無需經過法庭審判,可處15天以下監禁刑期。也就是說,政府可以隨意捏造一個罪名,將一人名譽掃地,關入大牢。

All of these baseless detentions come at a point when the Hong Kong protests have reached a pinnacle of fervor and violence. Police have begun using water cannons and storming public transportation to abuse unarmed, and under-aged, protesters, while continuing to use their previous methods of lobbing tear gas into crowds (a dangerous practice and not in line with proper use of the canisters) and shooting bean bag rounds, sometimes directly at the heads of peaceful protesters (which have permanently blinded at least two protesters), just to name a few. 

而這些毫無道理的拘留,也同時在香港「反送中」抗議到達一定巔峰時,一併爆發。港警開始使用水砲車,圍堵公共交通運輸,攻擊毫無武裝配備,甚至未成年的示威者。同時,也持續向示威民眾丟擲催淚瓦斯,射擊布袋彈,甚至近距離朝示威者頭部射擊,造成兩名民眾永久失明。

Meanwhile, there are accusations of protesters throwing molotov cocktails, though photographic evidence shows these claims are highly suspect, as multiple pictures of ‘protesters’ throwing such petrol bombs have been recorded with handguns on their hips. This would seem to point to them being plants, likely Hong Kong police, CCP goons, triads, or a mixture of the three, though sometimes the differences are almost indistinguishably. Though more evidence must be uncovered before anyone could say with absolute certainty.

同時,港警也聲稱,示威民眾投擲汽油彈;但從許多照片證明來看,這些港警所稱投擲汽油彈的「示威民眾」,腰上皆佩戴著手槍。這些「示威民眾」,似乎是港警,中共所派暴徒,香港黑幫三合會,抑或三者皆參雜在裡頭所組成的;畢竟,有時候這三者真的讓人難以分辨。然而我們也是需要更多的證據,才能就此下定論。

With the Hong Kong protests ever escalating, the anniversary of Mao declaring the establishment of the People’s Republic of China coming in October, and presidential elections looming in Taiwan and the United States, the CCP may be understandably feeling the heat. Perhaps Xi and his government see this as a way to boost morale within their borders as they try to censor and combat growing calls for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. Perhaps they’re trying to scare those outside their borders: those in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and elsewhere. It is probable that it’s both. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working, and may be having the opposite effect. This can be most obviously seen in Hong Kong, but personal experience and polling data tell me it is also backfiring in Taiwan. 

隨著香港反送中運動持續激烈高漲,接著中國十一國慶,以及台灣和美國總統大選的到來,中共一定也能感受到緊張。或許,習近平以及中共政府試著利用這次鎮壓反送中示威,想提升共產黨士氣以及勢力,削弱香港爭取自由民主的意志,甚至進一步想威嚇台灣;但事與願違,習近平的這一步棋,似乎沒有奏效。就個人調查,反而更高漲台灣及香港民主自由意識。

My sincere wish is that these stories have the same response throughout the world. I pray the international community wakes up to the evils of the Xi regime and start to do more than just shake their fingers. We need legislation, boycotts, divestments, and sanctions, so that there is no next Morrison Lee, Simon Cheng, Lee Ming-che, countless Tibetans, Uyghurs in East Turkestan, or anyone else hurt by the corrupt, murderous Chinese Communist Party.

我誠摯的希望,這些事件都能得到世界實質的回應。我祈求所有的國際組織皆能覺醒,看透習近平及其共產政權是那樣的腐敗邪惡,並能著手採取行動,而非譴責空談,紙上談兵。我們需要立法,聯合抵制,剝奪其勢力,並給予制裁,才不會有下一個李孟居,Simon Cheng,李明哲,無數的西藏及新疆維吾爾族人民,或是所有被那腐敗兇殘嗜血的中國共產黨所迫害的無辜人民。

 

Author: Jordan Fu

Translator: Abby P.

One thought on “Morrison Lee: Another Foreign Citizen Detained by the CCP/李孟居:另一個被中國政府拘留的外國公民”

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