Beijing, April 21 (CNA) Officials of Taiwan and China have agreed to jointly investigate telecom fraud rings run by Taiwanese in Kenya and Malaysia that have allegedly targeted Chinese citizens, the head of a Taiwanese official delegation said Thursday.
Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪), director general of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs under Taiwan's Ministry of Justice, said the Chinese government also agreed to allow family members of the 45 Taiwanese suspects now detained in Beijing to visit them.
Chen had earlier in the day conducted talks with the Taiwanese suspects deported from Kenya to China earlier this month, using video link equipment in a large conference room, which was open to news cameramen from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
After talking with the Taiwanese detainees, Chen and her 10-member delegation met Chinese public security officials. Both sides reached a consensus on "cooperation to assist each other in investigating" the Kenya-based fraud ring as well as another that was based in Malaysia.
Eighteen out of 20 fraud suspects that were deported back to Taiwan from Malaysia last Friday were placed in detention in central Taiwan Thursday. Their release upon arrival at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport sparked controversy in Taiwan as well as in China, where many of their alleged victims reside.
Chen and her Chinese counterpart agreed to "thoroughly probe" and collect all evidence pertaining to the Taiwanese suspects' operations in Kenya and Malaysia -- evidence that will be used for "effective prosecution," she told Taiwan media.
Chen said she did not discuss with the Chinese officials the issue of sending the Taiwan suspects back to Taiwan. "We were focusing on the imminent issue of joint investigation and gathering evidence," she said.
She and her delegation will return to Taipei Friday.
(By Lawrence Chiu and S.C. Chang)
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