The foreign ministry said on Tuesday it will continue to work on bringing home Taiwanese nationals arrested for telecommunications fraud in Cambodia. The ministry made the statement following news that Cambodia was preparing to send the suspects to China on Tuesday afternoon. This plan has been called off for now.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Eleanor Wang said Cambodian authorities arrested a total of 17 Taiwanese suspects on June 13 and 18. Wang said Cambodia indicated that the suspects included Chinese nationals and that they were to be sent to China, where the victims of their alleged fraud reside. Wang also said that China and Cambodia have close ties and the two countries have an extradition agreement. Wang said the foreign ministry will make every effort to negotiate with Cambodia over the repatriation of the Taiwanese suspects.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang said that there is no concession to Taiwan's right of jurisdiction. He said any aggression taken by either side would only hurt the feelings of the people of Taiwan and China.
Taiwan does not have a representative office in Cambodia. The negotiation with Cambodia is being conducted through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.