22-year-old Taiwanese college student Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒) has gone missing since he arrived in China for a weeklong trip on August 27. He had plans to travel to Hefei and last contacted his family to notify them that he had landed safely in Shanghai, but all attempts to contact him thereafter were unsuccessful. On Monday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office released news confirming that Kuo was suspected of fraud and is now undergoing investigation.
In an interview on Tuesday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) expressed dissatisfaction that Kuo had already been in Shanghai for a month before China released information about his detention. He said that their top priority at this time is obtaining further details from the Chinese side and determining whether Kuo is indeed involved in criminal activities.
Kuo’s detention follows an incident involving an executive for Formosa Plastics Group who was interrogated upon his arrival in Shanghai earlier this month and remains barred from exiting by Chinese authorities. The MAC has warned Taiwanese citizens against nonessential travel to China since the CCP released legal guidelines for punishing Taiwanese “independence diehards” in June.