Organized crime across the Taiwan Strait is becoming rampant and presents a formidable challenge to Taiwan's law enforcement, said Meng Wei-teh (孟維德), an associate professor in public administration from the National Central Police University.
Cross-strait crimes are now seriously disturbing social order, hampering Taiwan's economic development and posing a serious threat to people's quality of life, Meng said.
Meng said Taiwan and China are separated only by a "ditch." He said that because the people from both sides are from the same race with almost identical languages and customs, crimes of all kinds easily bridge the distance between the two. Meng mentioned crimes like goods smuggling, drug trafficking, the sale of illegal weapons, smuggling of human cargo and hijacking.
Quoting tallies from the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Meng said the number of criminals who have fled Taiwan to China has risen annually for the last 10 years.
During that time, Taiwanese law enforcement authorities have requested cooperation from Chinese authorities to attempt to jointly apprehend 335 criminals wanted in Taiwan. Of that total, only 87 have been caught while the remaining 74 percent remain at large, Meng said.
The Judicial Yuan's Criminal Investigation Bureau says these Taiwanese criminals, most of them leading gang figures, were found to have "remotely controlled" their cross-strait operations, including drugs and weapons trafficking, smuggling of laborers and prostitutes from China and shipping stolen cars from Taiwan.
Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 this year, 3,647 Chinese people were nabbed by Taiwanese law enforcement authorities for violating ROC laws.
Of the total, 1,150, or 31.5 percent, were arrested or repatriated for illegally working in Taiwan, 953 women, or 26.1 percent, were apprehended while working in the sex trade, and 866 people, or 23.8 percent, were found to be illegal immigrants from China.
Taiwanese police have found that 47.8 percent, or 50.8kg of the 106.4kg of heroin confiscated in 1999, originated from China, and 68 percent of the 1,214.5kg of amphetamines seized the same year were from across the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, authorities plan to tighten restrictions on trips by government officials to China for reasons of national security, it was reported yesterday.
Government security officials could face a fine of up to NT$1 million if they travel to the mainland in contravention of the new regulations, the Liberty Times said,
The report added that retired government officials who breach the restrictions could have their retirement pensions and other benefits revoked. The amended laws are pending final deliberation in parliament.
Pan Hsi-hsien, a retired section chief from the National Security Bureau was reportedly held by mainland authorities during a visit there last year and has so far not returned.
Military sources said security authorities had withdrawn some 100 important agents from the mainland fearing part of the nation's intelligence network had been compromised following a series of recent setbacks.
Policemen are already banned by law from visiting China, but a total of 144 policemen have visited Hong Kong and Macau at least three times without permission, according to a National Police Administration spokesman who added that a series of punishments had been meted out.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS