TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China’s state-run news network CCTV-13 reported on Wednesday (April 14) that a man named Li Hengli (李享利) has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for allegedly endangering Chinese national security through his distribution of funds.
Li, a Belizean national born in China, is a wealthy businessman who reportedly has links to figures in the Hong Kong protest movement as well as to “anti-China” figures abroad, according to Chinese state media. He is alleged to have funded a number of these individuals.
In the footage put out by CCTV-13, clips of the elderly Li in a red vest confessing his guilt are intercut with his 2019 arrest at a Chinese airport as well as with military and law enforcement officials intoning the severity of his crimes.
The decision to air what many observers believe amounts to another forced confession on Chinese news is notable, given that the practice has led to bans on Chinese state-run broadcasters CGTN and CCTV 4 in the U.K and Europe. Australian broadcaster SBS has also said it will not carry their content.
Following the ban in the U.K., the Chinese stations lost their right to air in Europe, as Britain shares a regulatory framework with the regional Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU. However, Chinese stations are poised to regain legitimacy across the continent following a recent decision by French regulator CSA, as France does not explicitly bar the airing of forced confessions.
On Tuesday, human rights group Safeguard Defenders published an open letter calling on broadcasters around the world to cease carrying the Chinese stations, as their complicity in filming and airing forced confessions makes them a powerful tool of the Chinese state in its war against human rights advocates:
“These broadcasts aim to silence entire communities, who are working to secure the most basic of rights - rights that are taken for granted in the countries of these TV providers - and by airing these tools of political terror, said providers are directly assisting the Chinese police in silencing China's civil society.”
The letter was signed by over a dozen victims of forced confessions that have been aired on Chinese state media.
