Kaohsiung police were incensed by a recent “official document” sent by police in China’s Guandong Province ordering Taiwanese police to follow up on a criminal case.
Officers at Kaohsiung’s Yancheng District (鹽埕) Police Station were perplexed after receiving the document by mail earlier this week, which originated from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Boluo County Shuishang District Police Precinct.
After opening the letter, the Kaohsiung police said, they were offended by the audacity of a Chinese police precinct ordering them to contact the family of a Taiwanese man surnamed Huang (黃), who was under arrest at a detention center in Boluo County and was a suspect in a criminal investigation.
Photo: Copied by Huang Chien-hua, Taipei Times
Accompanying the letter was a “Notice of Detention for Investigation,” which presented information on Huang’s arrest and the background of his case.
An officer at the police station was quoted as saying: “What is going on here? Is Taiwan part of China now? They are ordering us to follow up on an investigation.”
Kaohsiung City Police Chief Chen Chia-chin (陳家欽) said he has instructed police units in the city not to comply with any request made by units of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, as they had violated terms of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議), which was signed by Taiwan and China in 2009.
The Ministry of Public Security is China’s principal police authority and is responsible for law enforcement.
Yancheng District Police Chief Yen Ming-chung (顏明忠) rejected reports that his officers followed up on the order from their Chinese counterparts to contact Huang’s family.
“The ‘official document’ sent from China was in obvious violation of the 2009 mutual legal assistance agreement. We did not comply with the letter’s request,” Yen said on Friday.
The proper channel for agents of the Chinese ministry to submit requests to Taiwanese law enforcement is through the Cross-Strait Affairs Section of the Criminal Investigation Bureau at the National Police Administration, which would then pass on documents or notifications to the appropriate units at the county or city level, Chen said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from