The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday lodged a protest with Manila, threatening to re-examine bilateral relations after Philippine authorities allegedly ignored the ministry’s request not to send 14 Taiwanese suspected of involvement in an international fraud ring to stand trial in China.
The ministry said the Philippine government had violated legal procedures and international law by deporting the 14 Taiwanese to China.
“We are firmly against such an act and will re-examine all exchanges between the two countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said Manila’s National Bureau of Investigation and Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security had formed a joint task force and arrested 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese suspected of international racketeering during a raid in Manila on Dec. 27.
The ring’s victims are believed to be Chinese, with the gang netting NT$600 million (US$20.6 million) from their swindles. Beijing asked Manila to extradite all 24 suspects to China in accordance with an extradition treaty signed between the two countries in 2001, the ministry statement said.
The ministry’s representative to the Philippines has visited the 14 Taiwanese several times after learning of the extradition and firmly requested Manila return them to Taiwan for trial, it said.
The ministry has summoned Antonio Basilio, the representative of the Philippines in Taiwan, and his deputy, Carlo Aquino, twice to express its position.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines had obtained a restraining order from the appeals court in Manila in an attempt to block the deportation and request the release of the Taiwanese. Nevertheless, Manila deported all 24 suspects to China yesterday, the ministry said.
In addition to lodging a strong protest with the Philippine government, the ministry said Representative to the Philippines Donald Lee (李傳通) had written a letter to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳) also summoned Carlo Aquino yesterday morning to lodge a protest and notify him that the ministry would re-examine all exchanges with the Philippines.
The ministry has also notified the Ministry of Justice and the Mainland Affairs Council in the hopes that they could ask Beijing to repatriate the 14 Taiwanese to Taiwan. Taipei and Beijing signed the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance in June 2009.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) told the Taipei Times that the justice ministry and Straits Exchange Foundation contacted their Chinese counterparts yesterday, requesting the Taiwanese be sent back to Taiwan for trial.
Liu declined to comment on Manila’s actions, saying it was the foreign ministry’s jurisdiction.
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei declined yesterday to comment on the issue
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS