Several civic groups are calling on Taiwan’s APEC delegation to confront China with human rights issues during the upcoming APEC summit.
These civic groups include the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Economic Democracy Union, and Taiwan Citizen Front.
They say that at least 402 people have been forcibly disappeared in China, including Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-cheh and twelve Hong Kongers. Lee Ming-cheh was sentenced by Beijing to five years in prison in November 2017 on charges of “subversion”.
The civic groups are also urging the delegation to put forward a plan during the summit to set up an Asian Court of Human Rights, modelled after the European Court of Human Rights. They say that trade should not come at the expense of personal freedom and safety.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled to be held next Friday in a virtual format.