Taiwan democracy activist said to be detained in China

TAIPEI, Taiwan – People close to a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist say he went missing nine days ago during a visit to the Chinese territory of Macau and appears to be in Chinese custody.

The Taiwan Association for Human Rights said Lee Ming-che disappeared after clearing immigration on March 19 in Macau and never showed up for a planned meeting later that day with a friend across the border in China city of Zhuhai.

Lee's wife, Lee Ching-yu, said Tuesday that a Taiwanese government agency also told her this week it had indirect information pointing to a Chinese state security detention.

Cheng Hsiu-chuan, president of a Taipei college where Lee worked, said the 42-year-old may have attracted the attention of Chinese security after using the Chinese social media service WeChat to discuss China-Taiwan relations.