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President calls for extradition pact with US

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged Washington to pass an extradition agreement to ensure that both countries can bring criminals to justice, especially those implicated in white-collar crimes.

Ma said there had long been an imbalance in the deportation of suspects, and that Taiwan had been cooperative in meeting the US’ requests despite the lack of an extradition agreement.

FUGITIVES

“Once the agreement is signed, Taiwanese fugitives escaping to the US can be brought home for trial and will no longer be at large in the US,” Ma said.

The president made the remarks while receiving members of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) at the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon.

Ma said Taipei has long cooperated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to monitor shipments of illegal substances.

When a known shipment of illegal substances or a suspected drug dealer travels through Taiwan on its way to the US west coast, often via Japan, Taipei monitors the situation and informs the DEA, which then makes the arrests, Ma said.

The operations are kept confidential and Taipei has offered its full cooperation, he said, which “only proves that we will continue to fully cooperate.”

Ma asked NAAG members to urge the US government and Congress to improve judicial cooperation with Taiwan.

DEAFLYMPICS

The president also said yesterday he would attend the opening ceremony of next year’s Deaflympics in Taipei.

Ma said about 4,000 athletes from some 80 countries had expressed interest in participating in the event.

The former Taipei mayor said he was happy to see the capital holding an Olympics-related event and that he hoped the international community would see for themselves the efforts Taipei has put into meeting the needs of the hearing-impaired.

Ma made the remarks while receiving Donalda Kay Ammons, chairwoman of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
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