TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese teacher with links to the Yiguandao (一貫道) religious movement has been detained in China for 80 days, the Straits Exchange Foundation said Friday.
He had been teaching in China for more than 10 years, but in late May he was suddenly taken away by local public security officials, per Liberty Times. His relatives alerted the authorities in Taiwan in June, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) told a news conference Friday.
The foundation contacted China within a week after being informed, but two months later, there was still no response, he said. The teacher’s religion was the cause for him being suspected of activities damaging to China’s national security, according to Luo.
He said two other teachers had been questioned at the same time, but they had been allowed to leave, the Liberty Times reported. Luo called on China to respect past agreements, including the duty to inform the other side when a citizen is detained.
He added the latest case should make Taiwanese more aware of the risks of working in China due to the differences in legal systems. The foundation recently warned of an increase in the number of Taiwanese detained for religious reasons.
