Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Taiwan's legislature issued a statement Friday, calling for the release 45 Taiwanese fraud suspects, who lawmakers said were forcibly deported from Kenya to China in violation of their basic human rights and Taiwan's sovereignty and jurisdiction.
The joint statement issued by the caucuses of the ruling and opposition parties said the members of the Legislative Yuan "strongly condemn and protest" China's action, adding that it has caused "deep and enormous damage to our bilateral relationship and is not helpful to the positive development of the relations between the two sides."
The caucuses also called on Taiwan's government to send a delegation to China to visit the detained Taiwanese suspects and ensure their safety.
"We are also asking the Chinese authorities to release the Taiwanese immediately," the legislators said in the statement, which was prepared earlier in day during caucus negotiations on the Kenya deportation case.
The lawmakers suggested that the relevant authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait deal with the matter based on precedent and on a cross-strait agreement on joint crime fighting and mutual legal assistance.
Since April 8, a total of 45 Taiwanese citizens accused of involvement in telecommunications fraud have been deported to China by Kenyan police, despite Taiwan's strong opposition to such a move.
It is believed that Chinese authorities want the Taiwanese and the Chinese suspects to be tried in China because many of the fraud victims are Chinese and the penalties there are harsher than in Taiwan. Taiwan officials said that the two sides had reached an agreement that each side would have jurisdiction over their citizens involved in criminal activities.
(By Justine Su and Elizabeth Hsu)
ENDITEM/pc
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rsscna/EngNews/~3/HWNDtjMwBas/201604150006.aspx
