Taiwanese can be targeted through mutual legal assistance treaties: Activist

China could invoke mutual legal assistance treaties to target pro-independence Taiwanese in a third country, said Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-che, citing an article published in the Chinese State-run People's Daily by jurist Wang Yingjin.

The article, suggests that Beijing is seriously contemplating the strategy, which would endanger all Taiwanese transiting through China or travelling in a country that has an extradition treaty with Beijing, said Lee while speaking at a news conference in Taipei to mark the Human Rights Day, according to Taipei Times.

Lee, who was imprisoned in China from 2017 to April 2022 on charge of subverting state power, urged the Taiwan government to react on time to prevent China from abusing the extradition treaties.

While speaking at an event hosted by Tibetan and Uighur groups, and the "Safeguard Defenders", Lee asked the government to take up the issue via diplomatic channels, by reaching out to countries that have extradition treaties with China or Hong Kong to prevent the handover of Taiwanese accused of "separatism" or other political crimes by Beijing.

The public should be warned against travelling to countries that might comply with Beijing's extradition requests, Lee said.

Beijing's demand that foreign countries extradite Taiwanese to China compromises the national sovereignty of Taiwan and the extradited individuals' right to a fair trial and humane treatment in prison, he said, according to Taipei Times.

According to Lee, China's pressure on Taiwan has increased after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei in August 2022. China has since been authorizing criminal proceedings against pro-independence Taiwanese in absentia and without statutory limits.

Lee during his incarceration met several Taiwanese who were imprisoned after being extradited from Spain in connection with telecom fraud. Similar extraditions have been granted by Kenya and Malaysia, said Lee.

These extraditions go against a tacit understanding between Taipei and Beijing that Taiwanese would be repatriated to Taiwan for trial under the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (Hai Xia Liang An Gong Tong Da Ji Fan Zui Ji Si Fa Hu Zhu Xie Yi ) signed in 2009, he said, reported Taipei Times.

As China is not in a 'good condition' politically, economically, or socially due to widespread protests over its zero-Covid policy in major cities, military experts, recently, claimed that the Chinese leadership can use Taiwan as an emotive card to influence public opinion in China and prevent the CPC from becoming unpopular, as seen by the widespread opposition to the Communist Party of China's (CPC) 'Zero Covid' policies and protests across the nation.

The CPC has become less appealing to many individuals, particularly farmers and urban workers due to authoritarian rule in the country, the Indo-Pacific Centre for Strategic Communication claimed.

( With inputs from ANI )

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