A Kenyan court has once again postponed issuing a verdict on five Taiwanese fraud suspects who risk being deported to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Chen Chun-shen (陳俊賢) said the court put off a session scheduled to be held yesterday until July 26.
It is the second time the session has been postponed. It was originally due to take place on June 6.
“To safeguard the dignity of our national sovereignty, we will continue our efforts [to prevent the deportation of the Taiwanese to China]. It is our unshakable responsibility,” Chen said.
The five Taiwanese are among a group of 77 fraud suspects — 48 Chinese, 28 Taiwanese and one Thai — detained by Kenyan police in November 2014 and charged with engaging in unlicensed telecommunications activities, using radio equipment without a license and organized crime.
Twenty-three of the Taiwanese were deported to Beijing following their acquittal by a court on April 5.
Twenty-two Taiwanese arrested in Kenya in March and 32 Taiwanese arrested in Malaysia in April, all on similar charges, were also deported to China.
At a news conference in Taipei earlier yesterday, Chen said concrete achievements have been made since Representative to South Africa John Chen (陳忠) and a secretary from the Ministry of Justice arrived in Kenya on Thursday last week to present the government’s case.
“During this period, many international news outlets, including the BBC, have reported on the case. I believe such wide media coverage has put pressure on the Kenyan government,” Chen said.
However, Chen said Beijing has also made an all-out effort to ensure the deportation of the five Taiwanese to China.
He said the ministry is fighting to protect universal human rights, including the right to a defense.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said in a news release issued later yesterday that the ministry and the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa would continue to closely monitor the case.
“We will spare no effort in securing the return of the five Taiwanese to Taiwan and subject their alleged wrongdoings to due legal process,” Wang said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS