Two of the nation's most wanted fugitives, Chen Yi-hua (陳益華) and Hsueh Chiu (薛球), were extradited from China yesterday, arriving in Taipei to stand trial after more than three years on the run, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
"Chen and Hsueh's extradition represents the government's determination in fighting crime and protecting citizens' lives and property," said Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Su also made clear that cross-strait cooperation in the extradition of criminals was not based upon cash rewards. The Executive Yuan has in the past offered rewards for the capture of the nation's most wanted fugitives, and a reward of NT$10 million had been approved for the capture of the two fugitives. The minister, however, dodged the question of whether the Chinese police would be rewarded for their help in the arrest of Chen and Hsueh.
"The Chinese police authorities have not requested the reward, but according to regulations, we are obliged to reward an informant who aids in the capture of a fugitive. We will proceed in accordance with our regulations," Su said.
Su also took the opportunity to warn against attempting to avoid the long arm of Taiwanese justice by escaping to China.
"To the 326 fugitives who have yet to be arrested, cross-strait cooperation on crime will make it impossible to escape the forces of law by escaping to China," Su said.
Chen and Hsueh were captured and detained by Chinese police in July in Xiamen. The whereabouts of the two fugitives was revealed when they attempted to blackmail Yang Teng-kuei (楊登魁), owner of the GTV cable TV station, for NT$50 million while they were in Xiamen. According to authorities, Chen and Hsueh had taken refuge in China in November of last year.
The two returned to Taiwan in accordance with the Kinmen Agreement of 1990 that sets out guidelines for cross-strait extradition of criminals. They were transported by ship to the outlying island of Matsu before being flown to Taipei and arriving at the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 3:30pm yesterday afternoon.
Chen and Hsueh had been arrested by Miaoli police in March 21, 2000, but they were released the same day by the Miaoli District Court on bail of NT$300,000 and NT$200,000 respectively. They have been on the run since.The two built their notoriety on a string of high-profile kidnappings, including that of Taichung City Council Vice Speaker Chang Hung-nien (
In addition, the two are wanted on charges of armed robbery on several counts, including a raid of the military's Hsinchu financial office in January 2001, during which the two got away with NT$ 2.2 million.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS