China convicts director of Taiwanese publishing house for ‘secession’

The head of Taiwan's Gusa Publishing was sentenced to three years in prison in China. After a week of rumors, a Chinese spokesman confirmed the "inciting secession" sentence against Li Yanhe, according to the China Daily. The penalty includes a $6,900 fine.

A Chinese national, Li lived and worked in Taiwan. The catalog of the publishing house he headed included books critical of the Communist Party of China (PCCh), with topics including the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, according to the South China Morning Post.

The publisher, known by the pseudonym Fucha, was detained two years ago while on a trip to Chinese territory. The Taiwanese magazine New Bloom claims he was there to "give up his Chinese household registration." Renunciation required to become a citizen of Taiwan: "Taiwanese nationals are forbidden from holding Chinese household registration."

"It shows it is not safe to publish books about China in Taiwan or anywhere else," AP Yu Miao, who opened a bookstore in Washington, DC after pressure from the CCP led him to close the one he had in China, told AP.

The sentence, analysts say, is part of China's increasing intimidation of the island of Taiwan, which it considers part of its own territory. This intimidation is in preparation for a possible amphibious offensive, as well as cyber attacks and sabotage of key infrastructure.

The Annual Threat Assessment drawn up from US intelligence agencies ruled that Beijing's "coercive pressure" on its island neighbor is one of the indicators of growing Chinese danger. "China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US national security," the report released in recent hours asserts.