The Cambodian government yesterday suspended its plan to send 17 Taiwanese suspected of telecommunication fraud to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Cambodian authorities on Monday said 13 Taiwanese were arrested along with 14 Chinese on Monday the previous week, and that another eight Taiwanese were detained on Saturday.
“We will deport them to China this week. China will send a plane to pick up all of them,” Agence France-Presse yesterday quoted Cambodian Department of Immigration Director of Inspection and Procedure Major General Uk Heisela as saying in Phnom Penh.
Photo: CNA
However, the foreign ministry yesterday afternoon said that the scheduled deportation of the 17 Taiwanese to China had been canceled.
The director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, in Ho Chi Minh city, Liang Guang-chung (梁光中), is in Cambodia to convey the government’s insistence that its extraterritorial jurisdiction be honored, the ministry said.
Due to Cambodia’s ties with Beijing and the Chinese government’s reported intervention, Liang and other Taiwanese officials have yet to be given access to the accused, although several Taiwanese businesspeople working in Cambodia have been able to see them, the ministry added.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said that Taiwan would not budge on its right to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Any unilateral move by Beijing would only deepen negative perceptions in Taiwan about China, he said.
The government stands fast in its commitment to crack down on criminal behavior, and believes that international cooperation and mutual legal assistance systems would go a long way toward securing the rights of the victims, Huang said.
In related news, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) yesterday afternoon told lawmakers that the council has notified its Chinese counterpart — the Taiwan Affairs Office — of the government’s stance, which is that the Taiwanese should be sent to Taiwan for judicial procedures.
“However, the [Chinese authorities] have not responded to our calls,” Chang said.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao and AFP
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS