Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and the Chinese government has no jurisdiction over Taiwanese nationals, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The ministry was responding to a report by rights group Safeguard Defenders on Tuesday that said Beijing has pressured foreign governments to deport hundreds of Taiwanese to China.
More than 600 Taiwanese were extradited from numerous countries to China between 2016 and 2019 in an effort to “undermine Taiwanese sovereignty,” the report said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The ministry yesterday listed three rules when handling Taiwanese allegedly involved in telecommunications fraud in other nations.
First, the ministry and its representative offices in the countries in question confirm the number of Taiwanese involved, their names and other pertinent facts, while arranging to visit them in person, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
Second, while the government respects the jurisdictions of other countries, it aims to ensure Taiwanese involved in overseas cases can assert their rights during judicial investigations, she said.
Third, the government immediately asks the country to transfer Taiwanese suspects back to Taiwan for an investigation, she said.
The representative offices also contact the suspects’ families in Taiwan and offer assistance, such as providing a list of available lawyers, to protect their legal rights, she added.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council said that Beijing aims to “show its sovereignty over Taiwan” by pushing for the deportations.
“We again [say to] the Chinese side that crime-fighting should not involve politics and we hope law enforcement units on both sides can continue to cooperate ... to effectively fight crime and protect public welfare,” it said in a statement.
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