Taiwan bids to stop Chinese suspects in Malaysia being deported to mainland China
Dispute comes after 45 Taiwanese accused of fraud were sent to the mainland from Kenya
Taiwan’s government said on Friday it was seeking to prevent 52 Taiwanese criminal suspects being deported by Malaysia from being sent to mainland China amid an ongoing struggle over jurisdiction in such cases.
Taiwan’s official Central News Agency quoted Foreign Minister David Lin as saying that Taiwan’s office in Kuala Lumpur was lobbying Malaysian authorities to send the group to Taiwan in accordance with precedent.
Beijing has ‘legal right’ to demand Kenya deport Taiwanese fraud suspects
The incident comes amid Taiwanese protests over the recent deportation of 45 Taiwanese by Kenya to mainland China.
Beijing claimed jurisdiction in that case because the Taiwanese are suspected of committing wire fraud against victims on the mainland. Taiwan said Kenya violated their citizens’ legal rights and accused Beijing of breaking a tacit agreement not to interfere in each side’s citizens legal affairs abroad.
Taiwanese are concerned about Beijing’s attempts to assert its claims to sovereignty over their island by convincing countries over which it has influence to hand over Taiwanese suspects to mainland authorities.
‘Indignant’ Taiwan to send officials to Beijing to negotiate release of nationals deported from Kenya for alleged phone scam
The sides split amid civil war and China has long sought to isolate Taiwan diplomatically by preventing it from maintaining formal ties with most countries, including Malaysia and Kenya.