China Summons Citizens Celebrating Taiwan President’s Inauguration, Detains Rights Advocate

Chinese authorities summoned over 20 citizens in Chongqing, a city in southwestern China, who gathered at a restaurant adjacent to a petition office on May 20 to celebrate the inauguration of Taiwan’s 16th democratically elected president, Lai Ching-te. The police subsequently interrogated all attendees, and one rights advocate was detained on criminal charges, according to their family. According to one of the petitioners present, Mr. Xin (pseudonym), who spoke to the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times, “Police summoned more than 20 petitioners who attended the banquet for questioning. I was also interrogated outside the restaurant.” Rights advocate Li Xuezhi was allegedly detained, according to his family. Mr. Li’s sister shared a message via the Chinese social media platform WeChat on the evening of May 27 that said, “Around 12:30 a.m. on May 26, a person claiming to be a police officer took away Li Xuezhi. Around 8:30 p.m. on the 27th, we brought food to him at the Longxing Police Station. The police informed us that he had been criminally detained that afternoon. We are unaware of the specific charges against Li Xuezhi.”...