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China interrogates more businesspeople, SEF says

Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) said yesterday that China is interrogating hundreds of Taiwanese businesspeople based in "sensitive areas," including places near Chinese military bases.

China's interrogation and detention of the businesspeople before it obtained proper evidence of the men's alleged crimes were detrimental to the men's human rights, Shi said.

Shi, however, declined to confirm whether China's large-scale crackdown on the suspect Taiwanese intelligence-gathering operations in China had started after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) unveiled the locations of China's 496 missiles pointing at Taiwan.

Noting that Taiwan understands that China's justice system is different from Taiwan's, Shi nonetheless said that the government here hoped China could follow democratic countries' judicial procedures in trying the Taiwanese businesspeople.

The government yesterday asked China to allow a team of Taiwanese lawyers to go to China to represent Taiwanese businesspeople Beijing arrested on charges of espionage.

The Mainland Affairs Council and the foundation expressed serious concerns over what they called China's manipulation of judicial procedures in trying the Taiwanese businesspeople it alleges are "spies."

The foundation sent a letter to its Chinese counterpart the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait yesterday protesting against Beijing's arrangement of media interviews on Friday with eight Taiwanese businesspeople detained on charges of espionage.

Condemning such interviews as damaging to the detainees' human rights, Yen Wan-ching (顏萬進), SEF deputy secretary-general, said China had violated normal judicial procedures by exposing the men's identities and backgrounds.

Some of the detainees vented their anger at Chen and his government for doing nothing to rescue them following their arrests and said they regretted collecting intelligence for Taiwan.

However, according to MAC Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), government officials had visited the men's families after their arrests and their families said these men are only ordinary businesspeople and had nothing to do with intelligence activities.

Suspecting that the Taiwanese businesspeople's testimonies during their media interviews were scripted by China, Chen Ming-tong said Beijing's treatment of these men reminded him of China's inhuman trials of prisoners in the 19th century. He did not say what trials he was referring to.

The cross-strait foundation has asked for the its Chinese counterparts help to allow a team of Taiwanese lawyers to accompany the Taiwanese businesspeople's families to China to participate in the judicial inquiries.

The departure date for the team of lawyers remained undecided, said the foundation, which has formed a task force to handle cases of the so-called "Taiwanese spies."
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