Date：July 27, 2017
MAC Press Release No. 55
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that, upon learning that the Mainland intends to forcibly take seven Taiwanese nationals involved in telecommunications fraud in Cambodia to mainland China, it immediately demanded through cross-Strait liaison mechanisms that the Mainland actively coordinate the relevant departments. The Taiwanese persons involved in the case should be allowed to return Taiwan for investigation and trial according to law and should not be forcibly deported to mainland China.
Upon confirming that four Taiwanese nationals were taken to mainland China on July 26, 2017, the MAC immediately expressed deep regrets and solemnly protested to the Mainland side. Such unilateral actions by the Mainland not only are not helpful to joint investigations by cross-Strait public security agencies, but also ignore Taiwan's repeated appeals demanding that both sides deport their respective nationals to undergo trial according to law. They also further seriously harm the feelings of the Taiwanese people and are detrimental to the benign development of cross-Strait relations.
The MAC said that the government has demanded that, after the involved Taiwanese nationals are deported to mainland China, the Mainland should promptly make notification of restrictions to personal freedom, as stipulated under the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance. It should also protect the relevant judicial rights of Taiwanese nationals in the Mainland, follow due legal process, and assist in arranging matters related to family visits based on the position of humanitarian concerns.
The MAC again stressed that, since June last year, the government has formed an inter-agency platform, implemented related strengthening measures, established a center to combat fraud, and integrated inter-agency information to effectively combat cross-border telecommunications fraud. It is also using big data information analysis to screen for criminal suspects and strengthen efforts to break up fraud syndicates at the source. In addition, the Taiwan police have recently cooperated with Indonesia and other countries to break up several cross-border telecommunications fraud syndicates. This demonstrates Taiwan's determination and achievements in combating cross-border telecommunications fraud.
The MAC hopes that the Mainland can put aside prejudices, remove unnecessary political barriers, and, on the existing basis of cooperation, actively advance in the same direction and jointly formulate a proper approaches through benign cross-Strait communication and dialogue. Continued cooperation between public security agencies on both sides can help to track criminal syndicates to their source, thoroughly crack down on telecommunications fraud, and protect the interests and well-being of the people on both sides.