TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Colleagues of Gusa Press editor-in-chief Li Yanhe (李延賀) called on China Saturday (April 22) to release him following reports he had been secretly arrested in Shanghai.

Li, also known as Fuchsia, disappeared when he went to visit relatives in China in March. He worked in publishing in Shanghai before moving to Taiwan with his Taiwanese spouse in 2009, while Gusa Press published books that might be banned in the communist country.

Employees of the publishing house and writers whose works it published issued a joint statement Saturday asking China to let Li return home and resume his literary activities, the Liberty Times reported.

The statement said the publisher was living as if under house arrest, with no access possible for relatives and attorneys. The colleagues and writers described Li as an avid reader and enthusiastic publisher and editor.

Taiwan’s freedom of speech, publishing and academic research were like oxygen for his creativity, the statement added, saying Li’s enjoyment of those freedoms did not amount to a crime. The list of signatories for the petition included prominent Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan and American political sociologist Larry Diamond.