The remaining 11 of 102 Taiwanese who were arrested in Indonesia for fraud were sent back to Taiwan late on Thursday, completing the repatriation of Taiwanese involved in the case, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said, amid reports that Beijing had pressured Jakarta to extradite the suspects to China.
Criminal Investigation Bureau Director-General Chou Yu-wei (周幼偉) made the comment at a news conference at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after police arrested the repatriated suspects.
The other 91 suspects who were not wanted for crimes in Taiwan were returned over the past few days, following their deportation for breaching visa conditions, he said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The Indonesian Directorate-General of Immigration last week informed the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia that 103 Taiwanese were arrested in Bali, including one who was later revealed to be from Hong Kong, he said.
The suspects, 10 men and one woman, are mostly from Taichung and were wanted in Taiwan for fraud, money laundering, false imprisonment and other charges, Chou said.
They boarded China Airlines Flight CI762 under guard and arrived at the Taoyuan airport at 9:15pm, where they were arrested and handed to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office.
The Taiwanese-Indonesian operation showed the government’s resolve to bring suspects to justice and fight crime with global partners, Chou said.
However, the timely intervention by officials in Taipei narrowly prevented the extradition of the Taiwanese to China, a source with knowledge of the matter said, on condition of anonymity.
Fearing Beijing’s interference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) convened government officials to deal with the incident immediately after learning of the arrests, the source said.
Lin and Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) coordinated with the Taiwanese diplomatic corps and police in Indonesia, amid immense political pressure from Beijing for Jakarta to hand over the detainees, the source said.
The Indonesian government did not bow to Chinese pressure and ordered the suspects to be deported to Taiwan, with those not wanted for crimes going first, they said.
Jakarta did not want to be embroiled in a dispute between Taiwan and China and was wary of prosecuting Internet-based fraud that targeted people living outside its jurisdiction, they said.
Taiwanese police obtained materials from their Indonesian counterparts that would be used to prosecute the deportees in Taiwan, including laptops and 400 phones, they said.
Transporting the electronic devices under flight safety restrictions and the availability of air tickets caused some delays in the deportation proceedings, the source said.
Taiwanese who break the law in a foreign country could be prosecuted again in Taiwan for the same offense, a bureau spokesman said.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chun-fu
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS