TAIWAN BUSINESSMEN DETAINED IN CHINA TO BE `RESCUED': VP
2004-01-19 21:01:49
Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) The government will "rescue" several Taiwan businessmen detained in mainland China for alleged spying by appealing for international assistance through human rights organizations, Vice President Annette Lu said Monday.
Given that Beijing does not recognize the Republic of China government, it is very difficult for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to hold government-to-government talks on the issue, Lu noted.
Lu said that she is very concerned about the suffering of the Taiwan businessmen and she hopes that they will receive humanitarian treatment during their detention.
The Taiwan authorities believe that two of the detained men, who were interviewed by Taiwan reporters separately in their respective detention centers, were forced to confess to spying for Taiwan, Lu went on, adding that they "must have been intimidated."
Beijing claimed it broke up a Taiwan spy ring, capturing 24 Taiwanese and 19 mainland Chinese last month, and its Taiwan Affairs Office said Jan. 13 that seven Taiwanese had been arrested in southern China in December for collecting military information for Taiwan. On Jan. 16, the mainland Chinese authorities presented the seven suspected spies before foreign journalists in four different provinces, where the men admitted their wrongdoing.
(By Huang Kwang-chun)
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