Cambodia yesterday said it would deport 21 Taiwanese nationals arrested on fraud charges to China, ignoring attempts by Taiwanese officials to have them returned instead to Taiwan.
Cambodian authorities arrested 13 of the Taiwanese along with 14 Chinese on Monday last week.
Another eight Taiwanese suspects were detained on Saturday, Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration Director of Inspection and Procedure Major General Uk Heisela said.
“We have decided to deport them to China because they all are Chinese. The Chinese side has asked us to wait while they work out whether to send a plane or buy tickets for them,” Heisela told reporters yesterday.
He said Cambodia refused to draw a distinction between Chinese and Taiwanese, as the country adheres to a “one China” policy.
Cambodia is historically one of Beijing’s closest allies in Southeast Asia.
In April both Malaysia and Kenya deported Taiwanese nationals to China sparking uproar in Taipei.
Cambodia had yet to set a date for the deportation, Heisela said.
Cambodian police said the suspects contacted people in China asking for money to free relatives held captive.
The suspects had admitted to posing as police and court officials to extort money, Heisela said.
Observers see the cases as China putting pressure on Taiwan’s new government — which took office in May — as Beijing does not trust the traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the Cambodia arrests and accused Beijing of pressuring Phnom Penh.
“China requested Cambodia to send all the suspects to the mainland as most of the victims in this case are in China, and they obstructed our personnel from visiting the Taiwanese suspects,” the foreign ministry said.
Taiwanese officials based in Vietnam traveled to Cambodia, but were not allowed to visit the suspects, the ministry added.
Cambodian Department of Immigration spokesmen Heisela and Kem Sarin said they were unaware of a visit by Taiwanese officials.
The foreign ministry added that another four Taiwanese had been arrested at the Phnom Penh airport on Saturday, but it is unclear whether it is related to the same fraud case.
While President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has repeatedly pledged to maintain the “status quo,” she also has not bowed down to pressure to accept Beijing’s definition of cross-strait relations.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, meanwhile, said the government still hopes Taiwanese nationals can be brought back to Taiwan.
The council said it on Sunday conveyed to China via a liaison channel that sending the Taiwanese fraud suspects to China would be unhelpful to maintaining an amiable cross-strait interaction and that it does not hope to see similar incident happen again.
The Chinese side has not made a response so far, the council said.
Additional reporting by Reuters AND CNA
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS