Taiwanese publisher sentenced for inciting splittism by a Shanghai court
In a written response to media, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) confirmed that Li Yanhe (李延贺, aka Fuchsia) was convicted of inciting splittism on February 17 by the Shanghai Number One Intermediate People’s Court. A month later, TAO revealed that Li was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with one year’s deprivation of political rights.
The news came nearly two years after Li’s disappearance in March 2023. In April of the same year, TAO confirmed that Li was under investigation for endangering state security (ESS) activities.
Li, an ethnic Manchu from China, married a Taiwanese woman and settled in Taiwan in 2009. He is the editor-in-chief of Gusa Publishing, which has published books on politics and history critical of the Chinese Communist Party. He went to Shanghai to revoke his mainland residence registration (hukou) in addition to visiting relatives. Despite obtaining his Taiwan ID card, Li was mandated by Taiwanese law to revoke his mainland hukou to obtain the right of abode on the island.
Li’s case was cited during a press conference on security and stability given by China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on February 26, 2025. It was termed a “Taiwan independence” case that “seriously endangered state security”.
SPP also mentioned another “serious” ESS case involving Yang Zhiyuan (Yang Chih-yuan 杨智渊), a Taiwanese political activist and businessman who was convicted of splittism in August 2024. Yang was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment with three years of deprivation of political rights.
Missing professor returned to Japan
In a strange turn of events, Chinese scholar Hu Shiyun (胡士云), who became incommunicado following his visit to China in 2023, returned to Japan in January 2025. The Kobe Gakuin University, where Hu works, confirmed his return.
Professor Hu was born in Jiangsu and is said to have served as a policy advisor to the Chinese Consul General in Osaka. The reason for his disappearance remains unclear.
In an interview with the media, the university said Hu had reached out about resuming work prior to his return to Japan. However, when the school asked him about his time in China, Hu was not forthcoming with his answers.
Hu is not the only China-born academic living in Japan to have gone missing after visiting China.
In February 2023, Fan Yuntao (范云涛), a professor at Japan’s Asia University, could not be contacted after going back to China. The reasons and whereabouts of his disappearance are also unknown.
Former professor at the Hokkaido University of Education Yuan Keqin (袁克勤) was reportedly sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for espionage in Changchun, Jilin, on January 31, 2024. His conviction came more than four years after he went missing in May 2019 while visiting China.
Elderly women convicted of cult-related offenses received clemency in 2024
Dui Hua’s research found that three elderly women, all Falun Gong practitioners in Anhui, might have received clemency between September and December 2024. They were all convicted of using a cult to undermine the implementation of the law.
Wang Lanying (王兰英), a woman in her early 60’s, should have been released in the Fall of 2024 after receiving a seven-month sentence reduction. Wang was convicted in October 2021 and sentenced to four years and ten months of imprisonment.
Pan Yunxia (潘云侠), a woman around 68 years old, likely received a six-month sentence reduction. Pan was convicted in July 2021 and sentenced to six years of imprisonment. She should be released at the end of 2026.
Lü Wenfen (吕文芬), a woman in her early 60’s, likely received a seven-month sentence reduction. Lü was arrested with her two sons, who are also FLG practitioners, in September 2019. She was convicted and sentenced to seven and a half years in November 2020. Lü should be released in the Fall of 2026.
The sentences for Lü’s two sons, Yue Cangsheng (岳苍生) and Yue Pengcheng (岳鹏程), are unknown. Dui Hua later found that Yue Cangsheng likely received a seven-month sentence reduction in 2023.
Bishop of Wenzhou in custody again
Mgr. Peter Shao Zhumin (邵祝敏), Bishop of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, was reportedly taken into custody in March 2025 for hosting illegal religious ceremonies.
Shao was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 as coadjutor bishop and successor to Mgr. Vincent Zhu Weifang, who passed away in September 2016. However, the appointment was not accepted by the Chinese government, and it recognized the “Three-Self Church” bishop for the Diocese of Yongji instead.
Bishop Shao refuseds to participate in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and had been placed under restrictions several times in 2017 and 2024 respectively.
The latest incident was related to a public Holy Year Mass on December 27, 2024, celebrated by Bishop Shao, which was attended by 200 of the faithful. The event was deemed a “serious violation” of the Religious Affairs Regulations by authorities. The police intervened and later imposed a fine of 200,000 yuan, which Bishop Shao refused to pay.
In recent years, China has continued to assert control over Christians and other religions, pushing for Sinicization and compliance with “socialist core values.” Those who refuse to comply could face fines or even charges of economic crimes, such as fraud or illegal business activities.