Date: April 4, 2018
MAC Press Release No. 26
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that 78 Taiwanese nationals involved in telecommunications fraud in Philippine were forcibly taken to mainland China on the morning of April 4. The MAC solemnly protested to the Mainland.
The MAC stated that, since 2016, the Taiwan police have made combating cross-border telecommunications fraud a focal point in law and order. In addition, the government has amended the Criminal Code, the Money Laundering Control Act, the Organized Crime Prevention Act, and other laws, as well as cooperated with other countries to break up numerous fraud syndicates through big data analysis.
The MAC explained that the actions by the Mainland are entirely unhelpful to cross-Strait cooperation in combating cross-border telecommunications fraud. They are also detrimental to the benign development of cross-Strait relations. The MAC has explicitly demanded that the Mainland make notification of restrictions to personal freedom after the Taiwan nationals involved in the case are deported to the Mainland, as stipulated under the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance. It should also assist in arranging matters related to family visits, protect the relevant judicial rights of Taiwanese nationals, and follow due process.
The MAC also called on the Mainland to recognize that the continued occurrence of cross-border telecommunications fraud shows that unilateral action by the Mainland has failed to effectively curb cross-border telecommunication fraud. The two sides should jointly plan resolution and response measures. Cooperation between the two sides is the only way to identify the ringleaders behind the scenes to thoroughly crack down on telecommunications fraud, recover stolen funds, and thereby safeguard the interests and well-being of the people on both sides.