29 Taiwanese jailed in mainland China for telecoms fraud
- Beijing court hands down sentences of up to 14 years for defendants deported from Spain
- Taiwan says extraditions were abuse of human rights while Beijing says the crimes were committed against mainland people
In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud have been deported to China, sometimes forcibly, from countries including Kenya, Cambodia and Armenia, according to the Taiwanese government.
Beijing has defended the deportations, saying they were suspected of defrauding Chinese people and so should be tried in Chinese courts.
In the latest judgment, a Beijing court ruled that the suspects had defrauded people living in China by calling them from their base in Spain and claiming to be Chinese law enforcement officials, The Beijing News reported.
A total of 14 victims were defrauded out of more than 6.17 million yuan, (US$941,985), it said.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, with no right to be treated as a country.
The deportations have arisen from the “one China” policy of most countries under which they maintain formal relations only with Beijing and not with Taiwan, with governments deciding to send them to the mainland for trial.