The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday appealed to China to speedily repatriate its illegal immigrants before the Lunar New Year.
"Aside from China, there isn't a country that will not welcome its citizens back into its territory. We hope that China can arrange to repatriate these 1,650 illegal immigrants so they can reunite with their families right away," minister Yu Cheng-hsien (
Although China restarted its repatriation mechanism at the end of last October, there are still 1,650 Chinese immigrants in Taiwan's detention centers.
The return of cross-strait illegal immigrants and criminals is based on the Kinmen Accord (金門協議), which was signed by both sides' Red Cross societies in 1990. The accord states that once illegal immigrants have been arrested, a verification procedure should be completed within 20 days, and arrangements for repatriation should follow.
China, however, has frequently delayed such arrangements, resulting in a distorted situation of detainees waiting endlessly in four detention centers in Taiwan over the past 10 years.
According to the Bureau of Immigration, 43,210 illegal Chinese immigrants have been arrested under the accords, 41,101 of whom have been repatriated to China.
Each Chinese immigrant has to wait for an average of 173 days for repatriation. The government said that holding the detainees has been a heavy financial burden.
Yu said that Taiwan has suggested providing ships and transporting the immigrants to China, but China continues to turn down the proposal.
Based on the Bureau of Immigration's figures, the Ministry of the Interior had to allocate more than NT$100 million every year for the immigrants. Illness and pregnancy require extra funds.
In yesterday's press conference, Yu also vowed to work with Southeast Asian countries and China to arrest 47 Taiwanese fugitives hiding in these countries.
Yu specifically named former independent lawmaker Wu Tzer-yuan (
Wu left Taiwan on Dec. 29, 2001. The Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation later said that Wu had been spotted by its special agents in Guangzhou, China.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS