The government has demanded that China return 45 Taiwanese nationals seized in Kenya as soon as possible. The government says that the move has violated their legal and human rights and broken the understanding that has developed between the two sides since 2011 over how cases involving extradition should be handled.
But China has asserted its jurisdiction over the 45 Taiwanese citizens, saying that it’s China’s responsibility to bring them to justice since all of their victims are Chinese citizens. China also says that Taiwan should examine the matter from the victims’ perspectives and avoid being hijacked by political ideology.
Some legislators in Taiwan have demanded that the justice ministry take “immediate” steps to seek the release of the seized Taiwanese citizens. But a statement issued by the justice ministry last Saturday is strongly critical of these lawmakers. The justice ministry says that lawmakers are making unreasonable demands, manipulating populism and spurring hatred.
The justice ministry says that under a judicial mutual assistance agreement, Taiwan is unable to act unilaterally. Taiwan and China must negotiate when it comes to criminal file sharing, joint investigations, cracking down on crime, and providing criminal evidence for one another.
Former Central Police University professor Yeh Yu-lan who is also an online scam victim says she felt a “sense of joy” upon hearing the news of the extradition. Yeh said that the light punishments meted out to fraudsters in Taiwan in the past have turned the island into a safe haven for con artists, which she believes has prompted China to handle the matter itself.
Yeh’s comments were echoed by social and cultural critic Wang Hsin-ching, who has called for stiff punishments for scammers. Wang said however that Taiwan must offer legal assistance to the Taiwanese citizens accused in this case when they stand trial in China.
Meanwhile, president-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who is slated to take office on May 20th says that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) condemns Beijing’s forcible extradition of Taiwanese citizens to China. Tsai said China has no right to represent Taiwan.