Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Amid fears that 52 Taiwanese nationals suspected of fraud being held in Malaysia might be deported to China, 20 of them were on their way back to Taiwan on Friday evening, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
The 20 Taiwanese boarded a plane at 5:45 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur and were expected to arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 10:25 p.m., the CIB confirmed.
The CIB said it helped Malaysian immigration authorities with flight arrangements related to the repatriation of the suspects, but it did not offer any other information, saying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would provide more details.
In its initial comment on the 20 Taiwanese, the Foreign Ministry simply confirmed they were returning to Taiwan and said it was working with Malaysia on having the 32 other suspects sent back to Taiwan as soon as possible.
The news came after Taiwan had spent Friday discussing the case with Malaysia and China, hoping to prevent Malaysia from deporting the 52 Taiwanese being held to Beijing rather than Taipei.
Taiwan's government was on edge after Kenya deported 45 Taiwanese to China from April 8 to April 12 for telecommunications fraud against people in China from a base in Kenya, a move that it considered an infringement of its sovereignty and jurisdiction over its nationals.
The situation in Malaysia unfolded after 53 Taiwanese, 65 Chinese and two Malaysians were arrested by Malaysian police in late March during an investigation into five transnational telecommunications fraud cases also involving victims in China.
One of the Taiwanese suspects had a work permit in Malaysia and was released, but the other 52 were sent to detention centers in the states of Sembilan, Selangor and Johor.
Taiwan had expected the 20 suspects being held in Sembilan to be repatriated to Taiwan earlier Friday afternoon, but it was informed by Malaysia that the move was being put on hold.
The New Power Party's (時代力量) legislative caucus claimed on Friday morning that a plane dispatched by China was in Kuala Lumpur waiting to take the 52 Taiwanese citizens to China, sparking fears of a repeat of the Kenya case.
After a Cabinet meeting to assess the situation, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Ministry of Justice contacted Beijing through their respective channels to put the matter on hold and work out the issue with Taipei, according to Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified Malaysia through its representative to the country, James Chang (章計平), that Taiwan and China had begun communications on the case and requested that the deportation be help up for the time being, Sun said.
It was not immediately clear if Malaysia, in fact, ever considered handing the 20 Taiwanese suspects to China or the role, if any, of the government's intervention with either Kuala Lumpur or Beijing in securing the repatriation of the 20 to Taiwan.
The CIB did say that it will ask China to provide evidence related to the activities of the 20 suspects, and local prosecutors will decide whether to build a case and begin a follow-up investigation.
(By Lilian Wu)
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