The foreign ministry says 45 Taiwanese citizens thought to be involved in a phone fraud ring in Kenya have been forcibly taken to China. That’s the word from Foreign Ministry official Chen Chun-shen on Tuesday.
Chen said five more Taiwanese are likely to be put on a China-bound plane once they are sentenced by a Kenya court in June.
According to the foreign ministry, 28 of them were arrested by Kenyan police in November 2014 for illegal entry and unauthorized use of radio equipment.
At a trial on April 5th, 23 of the accused were found not guilty and were released on the spot. However, eight Taiwanese were forcibly flown to China on April 8th and the remaining 15 Taiwanese were also put on a China-bound plane by Kenya police on April 12th.
The foreign ministry said 22 more Taiwanese were also arrested by Kenya police on April 8th.
On Monday night, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said the eight Taiwanese citizens forcibly flown to China from Kenya are under detention in Beijing, including a man who is also a US citizen.
The MAC demanded that China send them to Taiwan as soon as possible and also accused China of violating their legal rights grossly.
The MAC said China has broken the understandings built between the two sides since 2011 over how similar matters should be handled.
On Tuesday, President Ma Ying-jeou asked the government to lodge a protest with China and send officials to the mainland as soon as possible to handle the matter.
It was reported that the victims of the fraudulent ring includes Chinese nationals as well as Taiwanese.