Taiwan yesterday threatened to implement a second wave of punitive actions against the Philippines, saying it had failed to adequately explain its decision to deport 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China last week.
“We are considering taking further action against the Philippines if it does not recognize its wrongdoing in the incident,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) told a press briefing.
He did not specify what measures were being considered.
Chang said the Philippines’ statement describing the 14 Taiwanese suspects as “undocumented aliens” was inaccurate because their passports had been confiscated and Taiwan’s representative office in Manila had provided Philippine authorities with new identification documents.
Furthermore, the case should have been handled based on Philippine law rather than its “one China” policy, Chang said.
He was referring to a comment by Philippine Presidential Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr, who said in an interview on DZMM Radio in the Philippines on Wednesday that the decision to deport 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese fraud suspects to China was in accordance with the Philippines’ “one China” policy.
Later in the day, Philippine Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government stood by the explanation given by Ochoa.
The row broke out on Feb. 2 when Manila deported the 24 suspects to China after their arrest in December on charges of cross-border fraud against Chinese nationals.
Taiwan, which had been trying to have the 14 Taiwanese repatriated, said the Philippines had acted inappropriately. Taiwan has recalled its envoy in Manila and said on Monday that it would tighten visa regulations for Filipinos seeking to work in Taiwan as well as cancel visa privileges for some Filipino citizens.
Chang yesterday said Taiwan expected the Philippines to show “more goodwill” in resolving the diplomatic stalemate, adding that Taipei would continue to plan its moves based on Manila’s actions.
A resolution, however, appears a long way off, as Philippine Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda yesterday rejected a demand by Taiwanese Representative to Manila Donald Lee (李傳通) for the government to apologize for deporting the 14 Taiwanese to China, insisting that authorities acted based on evidence gathered against the group.
“It is based on our national interest to do so,” Lacierda told reporters when asked why the 14 were sent to China instead of Taiwan. “These Taiwanese nationals are part of an international crime ring so on that basis and based on the evidence that was presented ... we did what was proper to do so.”
“The evidence is in China, the crime was committed in China, so it was in our best national interest to deport them to China,” Lacierda said.
The Philippine lawyer for the 14 Taiwanese, Maria Asuncion Cabrera, said the Philippine government had broken international law by sending the 14 to China.
“They were unlawfully and arbitrarily arrested and denied due process,” she said. “We presented their original passports which showed their point of origin was Taipei, and under the principle of nationality in international law, they should have been sent back to Taiwan.”
In Taipei, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of being a “wimp” for staying silent in the face of the Philippine government’s statement that it had deported the 14 Taiwanese to China in accordance with its “one China” policy.
“The whole spat with the Philippine government exposes the lies promoted by the Ma administration and is a cause for alarm as Taiwanese sovereignty and human rights are now affected by the ‘one China’ policy,” DPP caucus whip Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said.
“It is even more dumbfounding to find that the president, whose duties include diplomacy and cross-strait issues, has not uttered an opinion of his own, but has only referred all queries to the Executive Yuan,” Gao said.
He said lawmakers from the president’s party had already spoken and condemned the Philippines, but Ma continues to shun the subject.
He questioned whether Ma’s behavior was befitting that of a head of state.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2