SEF monitoring China's rumored indictment of Taiwan-based publisher

Taipei, March 16 (CNA) The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Sunday said it will continue monitoring the case of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀), who has reportedly been indicted following nearly two years in Chinese detention.

Li, the editor-in-chief of Gūsa Publishing, was detained by Shanghai police in late March 2023 on suspicion of activities that jeopardize national security, according to China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The Chinese national, known also as Fu Cha (富察), reportedly returned to China to cancel his household registration, a requirement for obtaining permanent residency in Taiwan.

Since Li's detention, Chinese authorities have remained tight-lipped about the progress of the case, and recent reports indicate that he has been secretly indicted.

The SEF did not comment on Li's rumored indictment, saying only that it has been assisting Li's family in line with their wishes and will continue to monitor the situation while providing the necessary support.

Li's case has been categorized by Chinese prosecutors as a "major national security" issue.

At a news conference late last month, Miao Shengming (苗生明), a senior prosecutor in China, said that authorities had handled an important "incitement to secession" case involving Li.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) previously described Li's case as being used by Chinese authorities as a "symbolic propaganda example."

Born in 1971 in the Chinese province of Liaoning, Li relocated to Taiwan in 2009 and founded Gūsa the same year. Li, who remains the editor-in-chief of the publishing house to this date, is married to a Taiwanese woman and has been a legal resident of Taiwan since 2013.

Gūsa, which is affiliated to the Book Republic Publishing Group, has over the years printed books that either criticize the Chinese Communist Party or touch upon the party's taboos.