Activist who was imprisoned in China returns to Taiwan

A Taiwanese pro-democracy activist has returned home after serving five years in China

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A Taiwanese pro-democracy activist who served five years in China returned to Taiwan on Friday morning, the island's Central News Agency reported.

Lee Ming-che was arrested by Chinese authorities in 2017 and charged with subversion of state power. His arrest was China’s first criminal prosecution of a nonprofit worker since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations in 2016.

Lee had given online lectures on Taiwan’s democratization and managed a fund for families of political prisoners in China.

For the past five years, he served his sentence in a prison in central Hunan province. Lee arrived back in Taiwan Friday morning, flying from the southern Chinese city of Xiamen.