MAC Press Release No. 019
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued the following press release today (April 13, 2023) in response to the heavy prison sentences of 14 and 12 years recently handed respectively to Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, mainland Chinese human rights lawyers, by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for "subversion of state power," a verdict that has sparked international concerns. The MAC stated that the harsh punishment on the two prominent human rights lawyers was meant to create a chilling effect, suppress diverse opinions in the society, and clamp down on freedom of speech. The court rulings are highly regrettable as they run counter to the universal values of freedom and democracy upheld by civilized countries around the world today. The MAC called on the CCP authorities to cease their unjust suppression of human rights and immediately drop the trumped-up charges against the two human rights lawyers.
The MAC emphasized that the Beijing authorities' uncivilized actions such as human rights violations, abuse of power, and other persecution will not only stoke grievances and opposition at home and stir up social unrest but widen the psychological distance between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The MAC called on the Beijing authorities to immediately stop abusing judiciary power for persecution and restore to the people their due freedoms and rights. Only through these changes will the CCP realize its so-called "whole-process people's democracy" and prove that it is more than just a propaganda slogan.