The Chinese government says a court has sentenced a Taiwan-based book publisher to three years in prison for "inciting secession."



Li Yanhe, the editor-in-chief of a Taiwanese publishing firm, went missing after traveling to China in March 2023. He was born in China. The Chinese government later announced that Li was being investigated by anti-espionage authorities.



Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, revealed in a news conference on Wednesday that a Shanghai court had handed down Li's sentence last month.



Chen did not specify which actions were considered a crime. Li's company has published books critical of Beijing, and Chinese authorities may have seen that as problematic.



A Taiwanese group of Li's supporters issued a statement criticizing the process, from his detention to the court ruling, for lacking transparency.



The group stressed that the case has cast a significant shadow over cross-strait cultural exchanges. It said the incident has led many people in Taiwan's cultural community to question how Chinese authorities view ordinary cultural activities, publications and freedom of speech.