Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) yesterday said the ministry takes a positive view of an apology issued by the Malaysian prime minister’s special envoy to east Asia Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing over his nation’s deportation of 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects to Beijing.
“Tiong made the apology yesterday [Sunday] and said he was also astonished by such a procedure. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs feels positively about Tiong’s remarks,” Hou said on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei.
Hou was responding to media queries regarding Tiong’s remarks, made in an interview with the Central News Agency in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, during which the Malaysian politician said it is customary for his government to deport foreign suspects to their home nations.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tiong said in the interview that he had no prior knowledge of the deportation of the 32 Taiwanese to China on Saturday and that he was “astonished and disappointed” by the incident.
He then apologized and pledged to help rectify the situation in his capacity as the prime minister’s special envoy to East Asia.
The 32 Taiwanese were among a group of 52 Taiwanese arrested in Malaysia last month on suspicion of participating in a telecoms fraud.
The other 20 suspects were sent back to Taiwan on April 15 at Taipei’s request, but were released shortly afterward due to a lack of evidence.
Nevertheless, prosecutors on April 21 detained 18 of the suspects incommunicado and restricted the remaining two suspects from leaving the nation.
Turning to the government’s deployment of two patrol vessels on Sunday on a month-long mission to protect Taiwanese fishermen operating in international waters near the Okinotori atoll, Hou said the government would continue to try to handle situations at sea with discretion and to prevent them from escalating into conflicts.
“We urge both parties to resort to peaceful means to address the issue,” Hou said.
Asked how the two patrol boats would respond in the event of an attack from Japanese coast guard vessels, such as by water cannons, Hou said he would not answer hypothetical questions and reiterated his hopes for a peaceful resolution.
The deployment of the two patrol vessels came amid growing tensions between Taipei and Tokyo over the latter’s confiscation of a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Tung Sheng Chi No. 16, about 150 nautical miles (277.8km) east-southeast of the uninhabited atoll on Monday last week.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source