Tung said that while both sides had signed the “Kinmen Accord” in 1991 to extradite illegal immigrants and criminals to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, “China extradited only when it pleased them and turned up its nose when it did not.”
Both sides signed an agreement on cross-strait cooperation to fight crime in June, but no criminals have been sent back to Taiwan through the mechanism, he said.
China sees signing the agreements as one thing and implementing them as another, Tung said. For example, Tung said smuggling was still rampant.
In addition, China may agree to one thing but obstruct it through technical means, Tung said.
While China agrees to allow more tourists to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese travel agencies must be approved by China to handle the matter, he said, noting that Taiwanese vessels can transport cross-strait goods only if they are registered in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Chen Ming-sheng (陳明生), assistant to DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), told the forum that their long-term tracking of China’s handling of the melamine controversy suggested Beijing was not serious about addressing the problem.
Chen was referring to the public health scare in October last year caused by melamine-contaminated imports from China.
Twelve Taiwanese firms have asked for a total of NT$700 million (US$21 million) in compensation from Duqing, the Chinese supplier of a contaminated non-dairy creamer, and from Sanlu, the now-bankrupt dairy firm that also sold melamine-contaminated milk powder.
China has not responded, even though food safety was included in the the four pacts signed last year.
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