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Today, 16:59
Beijing, April 21 (CNA) A Taiwanese delegation on Thursday visited a detention center in Beijing where they talked via video link with several of the 45 Taiwanese suspects currently being detained under suspicion of involvement in a telecom fraud ring that was allegedly scamming people in China from a base in Kenya.
Accompanied by Chinese officials, the 10-member delegation led by Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪), director general of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Justice, conducted a talk with the Taiwanese suspects using video link equipment in a large conference room, which was open to news cameramen from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
Two of the 45 Taiwanese suspects have hired Chinese lawyers to represent them, according to Chen.
Also Thursday, the delegation held a closed-door meeting with China's Public Security Bureau officials, during which Chinese officials presented their investigative findings and information they had collected about the 45 Taiwanese suspects' involvement in the alleged telecom scam. They then listened to the delegation's opinions on the case, according to Chen.
Chen said that the information and data provided by China will be taken back to Taiwan for prosecutors and police authorities and expressed hopes that the two sides will continue cooperating in joint crime-fighting efforts.
A formal talk between the delegation and China was to be held later Thursday and the Taiwanese group is expected to propose and discuss ways to deal with the fate of the 45 Taiwanese suspects, who were deported from Kenya to China.
The delegates would likely talk about key issues such as judicial jurisdiction and providing evidence.
Taiwan has argued that it has jurisdiction over its nationals while Beijing, which does not recognize Taiwan's sovereignty, has contended it has jurisdiction over the case because the victims of the scam were residents of China.
The Taiwanese group arrived in Beijing Wednesday to talk with Chinese authorities in the hope that the suspects can be brought back to stand trial in Taiwan, under the terms of an existing agreement between Taiwan and China on joint crime fighting and mutual judicial assistance.
The delegation is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Friday.
(By Lawrence Chiu and Evelyn Kao)
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