The Human Rights Watch report on China’s seizure of 45 Taiwanese nationals from Kenya last month should put pressure on the Kenyan authorities for extraditing the Taiwanese to China. That’s the word from foreign ministry official Chen Chun-shen on Tuesday.
In its report, the New York-based NGO says “There was a Kenyan court order blocking the deportation of the Taiwanese from the country. Why Kenyan officials ignore that order remains unclear.” The report also says “The Taiwanese were provided no opportunity to contest their deportations.”
The 45 Taiwanese who were allegedly involved in a telecom fraud ring in Kenya are under detention in Beijing now.
Chen spoke on the importance of the report.
“It is expected that the report and concerns of the human rights organization will put some pressure on Kenya," said Chen. "We hope that the report will enable Kenya to give the other five detained Taiwanese nationals some respect. As we all know, China’s forcible extradition of our citizens has left a bad mark on the global human rights record.”
Chen said the government is also trying to stop 39 Taiwanese nationals detained in Egypt from being extradited to China.