A government delegation headed by Ministry of Justice officials arrived in Beijing yesterday and was greeted by Chinese officials before going to talks dealing with 45 Taiwanese deported from Kenya to China over allegations of telecommunications fraud.
Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs Director Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪) led a 10-member group that included officials from the Mainland Affairs Council, the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Contrary to expectations, the delegation did not visit the detention center in Beijing’s Haidian District yesterday afternoon, where the suspects are being held.
Photo: CNA
Chinese authorities had invited some media outlets from Taiwan and China to enter the facility, with the aim of showing that the Taiwanese were being treated humanely.
Chinese officials said that arrangements were made for the delegation to visit the detention center in the afternoon so the visitors could see for themselves the facility’s conditions and talk to the suspects.
The delegation departed from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning after postponing the trip for two days due to communication issues with Chinese authorities.
“For cases already subject to a judicial probe, we hope to move in the direction of joint investigations with China, with a division of labor between the two sides,” Chen said at the airport.
Chen said the delegation would handle matters in China according to the framework of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議), so discussions would be arranged by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS