China defends sentencing of Taiwan pro-democracy activist

Along with demonstrating Chinese President Xi Jinping's hard line on civil and political rights, the case against Lee was seen as part of a pressure campaign against the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

By: AP | Beijing | Published: November 29, 2017 1:08 pm

China defends sentencing of Taiwan activist Lee Ming-che

Lee was seen as part of a pressure campaign against the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. (Source: Via AP video)

China on Wednesday defended a five-year prison sentence handed down to a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist who held online political lectures and helped the families of jailed Chinese dissidents, saying the punishment was arrived at partly due to the “degree of harm to society.” The trial of Lee Ming-che was seen as a demonstration of how Beijing’s harshest crackdown on human rights in decades has extended beyond the Chinese mainland, and sent a chill through Taiwanese society.