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President demands return of Taiwan nationals sent to China

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/11 20:15:04

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) demanded Monday that China return eight Taiwan nationals who were sent there from Kenya three days ago in connection with a phone fraud case in Nairobi.

Presiding over a routine meeting on cross-Taiwan Strait and foreign affairs at the Presidential Office, Ma said the mainland side has violated due process by taking the Taiwan nationals away forcefully without notifying Taiwan beforehand.

The government has lodged a serious protest with Beijing and will do its utmost to protect its nationals, Ma said.

He directed the Mainland Affairs Council to continue to communicate with the mainland side and demand the return of the eight.

He also instructed the Ministry of Justice to negotiate with its Chinese counterpart to deal with the issue.

Because some Taiwan nationals are still in Kenya, the president instructed the concerned agencies to be careful and make sure that no more Taiwanese are taken away by China.

The eight people were among 23 Taiwanese accused of being members of a fraud ring that was busted toward the end of 2014. A total of 77 Chinese and Taiwanese were arrested for illegal entry and allegedly involved in telecommunications fraud.

The 23 Taiwan nationals, along with 14 Chinese, were acquitted of phone fraud charges April 5, but were ordered to leave the country in three weeks.

However, when they went to a local police station later that day to retrieve their passports, which had been seized earlier, they were detained.

On April 8, the eight people were put on a Chinese airliner and flown to China, despite a court order that they should be handed back to the Kenyan police authorities pending a further hearing.

Earlier Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a statement demanding the immediate return of the eight Taiwan nationals and urged the Kenyan police, in accordance with the court ruling, to immediately release the other 15 Taiwanese who have also been acquitted.

The ministry expressed its "serious protest" against the "uncivilized act of extrajudicial abduction" which represents a "gross violation of basic human rights."

MOFA also accused Chinese personnel of "technical obstructions," including delaying a court injunction that would have kept the Taiwanese in Kenya, and of barring an official from Taiwan's representative office in South Africa from reaching the Taiwanese before they were deported.

(By Claudia Liu and Y.F. Low)
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