Taiwanese national still missing more than a year after entering China

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) confirmed Friday that a Taiwanese national is still missing more than a year after entering China, following an incident this week in which another Taiwanese citizen was detained there.

Tsai Chin-shu (蔡金樹), chairman of the South Taiwan Cross-Strait Relations Association, which promotes cross-Taiwan Strait interaction, has not been heard from for more than a year since he went to Xiamen in July 2018, the SEF said.

The SEF confirmation came after political commentator Chiang Min-chin (江岷欽) claimed in a talk show Thursday that Tsai was detained by China due to security concerns.

The SEF said it has asked its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, to help locate the missing person but has not received a reply.

On Wednesday, the detention of another Taiwanese citizen, Lee Meng-chu (李孟居), was announced by China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The office said Lee is being questioned by the Chinese authorities for alleged "criminal activities that could jeopardize China's national security."

It is suspected that Lee's disappearance could be related to him expressing support for the ongoing pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong on his Facebook page.

A similar incident occurred in March 2017 when another Taiwanese activist, Lee Ming-che (李明哲), went missing in China.

The Chinese authorities waited two months before confirming to Taiwan in May of that year that Lee had been arrested and detained.

Lee is now serving a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of subversion of state power.