China arrests Taiwan-based man who published books critical of Communist Party

Hong Kong, April 26 : Chinese authorities on Tuesday announced the formal arrest of Yang Chih-yuan, a pro-independence political activist from Taiwan, on suspicion of "secession", more than eight months after he was detained in eastern Zhejiang province, reported CNN.

Yang Chih-yuan, a democracy campaigner and pro-independence politician, was detained by Chinese state security in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province last August, hours after then-United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrapped up her high-stakes visit to Taipei.

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on social media that prosecutors in Wenzhou had approved the arrest of Yang on secession charges after the city's state security bureau concluded its investigation and handed the case to the prosecutors for "review and prosecution," reported CNN.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said they had repeatedly reached out to mainland authorities about Yang's detention but had not received a direct response.

"The government reiterates that Yang is innocent and calls on the Chinese Communist Party to release Yang and allow him to return to Taiwan as soon as possible," the council said in a statement to CNN.

Yang, 33, has been active in Taiwan's social movements for more than a decade and once contested for a seat in Taiwan's legislature, which he did not win.

In 2019, he became the vice chairman of the Taiwan National Party, a fringe political party advocating Taiwan's independence. The party is now defunct, according to Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior. He has published books critical of the Communist Party.

China's state broadcaster CCTV reported on August 3 last year that Yang was taken into custody by the state security bureau in Wenzhou for engaging in "separatist activities" supporting Taiwan's independence and endangering national security.

China's ruling Communist Party claims Taiwan as its own territory, despite having never controlled it, and has refused to rule out the use of force to "unify" the island with mainland China.