The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged China not to ignore Taiwan's attempts to negotiate the problem of human smuggling.
The council's call came after smugglers forced 26 Chinese women to jump into the sea when Taiwan's coast guard spotted their boats in waters off the coastal town Tunghsiao, Miaoli County.
PHOTO: LIN CHIA-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Six drowned while the others managed to swim ashore or were rescued by the coast guard.
MAC Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (
He said the foundation has written two letters to ARATS about the incident.
"But so far the foundation has not received any response from ARATS," Chen said.
He said the number of Chinese being smuggled into Taiwan has been increasing.
"The Chinese authorities neither seriously review the situation nor try to crack down on the crime," he said.
"Instead, they criticize our leader. It is irresponsible behavior and does not help curb the illegal smuggling of Chinese people to Taiwan," he said.
Chen said Taiwan condemned the operations of the smuggling gangs, also known as snakeheads.
"We are trying to identify the drowned Chinese women. Once their identities are confirmed, the SEF will write a letter asking ARATS to inform the victims' families," Chen said.
The foundation will be the sole agency charged with informing ARATS of details about the women, the council has said.
Chen said Taiwan realized the importance of cracking down on criminals operating across the Strait.
"We have been calling for the Chinese authorities to cooperate with us to solve the problem," he said.
The return of cross-strait illegal immigrants and criminals is based on the Kinmen Accord (
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.
"But China has not abided by the accord in handling illegal immigrants and criminals. Taiwan cannot efficiently repatriate illegal immigrants to China but has to accommodate them for a long time. It is unreasonable," Chen said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan is studying the possibility of taking the problem of rampant illegal Chinese immigration to the international community to seek possible remedies.
One possible forum to air the government's grievances could be this year's APEC meeting, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"If Beijing doesn't show sincerity in solving the illegal immigration problem, we'll let the international community know about its inhumane and irresponsible behavior, because illegal immigration is not the nation's problem but the region's problem," Lin said.
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