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.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
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