Taiwan to dispatch officials to China to discuss deportation of fraud suspects
Chinese and Taiwanese suspects involved in wire fraud, center, sit in a plane as they arrive at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China. Pic: Xinhua News Agency via AP
TAIWAN said it plans to dispatch a delegation to Beijing as early as Monday to discuss the deportation of Taiwanese fraud suspects from Kenya to China. The incident has stirred outrage on the self-ruled island.
The Cabinet’s Mainland Affairs Council says the officials will discuss the ongoing case as well as ways of combating crimes involving residents of the two sides detained in other countries.
The latest battle over Taiwanese deportations came after Kenya sent 45 Taiwanese suspects to China instead of Taiwan earlier this month. Beijing wants to investigate them for fraudulently obtaining banking details of victims in China in order to steal funds.
China insists that it has legal jurisdiction over the case since the victims were its own nationals. Beijing is skeptical that the perpetrators would be handed sufficient punishment when they return to Taiwan.\
According to AFP, Taiwan denounced the Chinese government this week for being “rude and violent” in regard to Kenya’s deportation of Taiwanese citizens to China.
Facing intense public pressure, Taiwanese officials managed to convince Malaysia to deport 20 Taiwanese criminal suspects to Taiwan on Friday despite Beijing’s request that they be sent to China.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
