The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that 39 Taiwanese have been arrested over telecom fraud allegations.
News reports said that after months of investigation, Spanish police raided more than 10 locations earlier in the week and arrested nearly 240 Chinese and Taiwanese fraud suspects.
The ministry has instructed its representative office in Madrid to help the Taiwanese suspects being questioned by Spanish police, based on the principles of reciprocity, dignity and upholding human rights.
Wang Chi-hua (王之化), an information chief at the nation’s representative office in Madrid, said the investigation was still ongoing, and the number of suspects was expected to increase.
Wang said that after the suspects arrived in Spain, they rented villas and allegedly committed fraud by posing as law enforcement personnel in phone calls to Chinese people, swindling them to the tune of 16 million euros (US$16.82 million).
Wang said his office would help family members to visit the Taiwanese suspects in Spain if required.
He said that some of the suspects have been turned over to judicial authorities, but added that Spanish police have declined to disclose the results of their investigation.
Wang dismissed reports that Beijing is trying to extradite the suspects to China, saying that the process has not yet reached that stage.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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