Jailed Taiwan Activist's Wife Flies To Mainland

The wife of a Taiwanese democracy activist jailed in Hunan flew to the mainland on Monday after being granted permission to visit him in prison for the first time.

NGO worker Lee Ming-cheh was sentenced to five years in prison in November on charges of subverting state power by a court in Hunan province.

Taipei has called Lee's jailing "unacceptable" and a serious blow to cross-strait relations, while his wife Lee Ching-yu has said his trial was a "political show".

She told reporters prior to her departure that she intends to pass on "messages from the free world" during her planned visit to see him in prison on Tuesday.

Lee was arrested in March 2017 during a trip to the mainland and held incommunicado for months.

The mainland authorities cancelled Lee Ching-yu's mainland travel permit last April as she searched for her missing husband and later only granted her single-entry visas to attend the trial and sentencing.

But in January she was barred from boarding a flight to visit Lee in Hunan's Chishan prison.

During his trial, Lee admitted the charges, stating that he had written and distributed online articles that criticised China's ruling Communist Party and promoted democracy. (AFP)