The DPP made a few comments on the recent diplomatic row over the extradition of Taiwanese to China to stand trial for fraud committed against Chinese nationals abroad....The Philippine government held an extraordinary meeting yesterday after Taipei lodged a protest over the deportation to China of 14 Taiwanese allegedly involved in an international fraud ring, a Taiwanese government official said on condition of anonymity, adding that Taiwan would monitor how Manila handles the matter.Let's hope the Ma Administration fires a warning shot across Manila's bow, loud and clear -- Taiwan employs thousands of Filipino nationals who send home megabucks -- assuming we can get a clarification of what happened and what it means per my question below:
The Philippine government has yet to respond formally to the protest made by Taipei on Wednesday, including a strongly worded statement that Taiwan could re-examine bilateral relations and suspend exchanges over the controversy.
The key question which no news article I have seen has made clear is the terms of China's demands. Were the sent to China as foreign nationals who had committed crimes against Chinese? Or did Manila repatriate the nationals of Taiwan/ROC as Chinese under Beijing's One China policy which Manila adheres to. In other words, what is the diplomatic tussle about, precisely?
UPDATE: Xinhua says it was a joint Taiwan/China/Philippines bust. Thanks to anon for the pointer to this article:
_______________________The group, headed by Taiwanese suspects, was found to have stolen some 140 million yuan (21 million U.S. dollars) since October by cheating over 450 individuals across 21 provinces and autonomous regions on the mainland, the ministry said in a statement.
With members spreading among the mainland, Taiwan, and the Philippines, the fraud ring first made phone calls from the Philippines to a targeted individual on the Chinese mainland, claiming the latter was involved in money laundering crimes.
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.
I think it might be Manila's way of letting the Taiwanese know that mistreating their nationals like they did when the economic recession hit has consequences.
ReplyDeleteFrom an economic perspective Taiwan and the Philippines could use each other. The problem is the ruling caste of both countries tends to be petty and downright counterproductive. Taiwanese tend to use Vietnamese, Thais, and Indonesians now. The Filipino shops are closing due to lack of customer base while Indonesian shops are springing up like weeds. This matters to me because otherwise I can't get my Mountain Dew and Mug Root Beer from Indonesian shops though I can get it from Filipino ones. A lot of Filipino shops have closed. I can think of 3 off the top of my head now.
I also tend to find my rare chances of Sunday beer drinking more entertaining with the Filipinos than the Thais.
Of course, every reader who read the taipei times news story knows the Taiwanese men who sent to Chian by Manila as "Chinese nationals" under the One China policy that Manila adheres to. That was obvious. What you been smoking? Read between the lines, bloggmaster.
ReplyDeleteIf I actually claimed that, someone would bitch that I had no evidence.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly looks that way though!
evidence! clear as day!
ReplyDeleteMike, sorry OT, but did you hear about that missile launch(?) in south Taiwan a few days ago?
ReplyDeleteNot only was it strange, but it was similar to the California mystery event back in Nov 2010.
Nope didn't hear about that. Got links?
ReplyDeleteSorry Michael, I dug around but couldn't find any links. It was on TV the day before yesterday. Quite a few people witnessed it down in Anping/Tainan. There was a short video of it on TV. (I think TVBS)
ReplyDeleteUnrelated,I can add this link: Jon Huntsman on Charlie Rose (Dec 17, 2010).
Wow - what's next?
ReplyDeleteTaiwan is a major international creditor - China ordering Taiwan's debtors to pay the money back to China, instead of to Taiwan?
Shrewdness and hardball is necessary.
Disturbing trend. Imagine being arrested at a pro-Tibet or pro-Taiwan demonstration and being 'repatriated' to China...
ReplyDeleteUPDATE:
ReplyDeleteXinhua’s report on the arrests in December described the group’s schemes, and stressed the participation of Taiwanese authorities:
With members spreading among the mainland, Taiwan, and the Philippines, the fraud ring first made phone calls from the Philippines to a targeted individual on the Chinese mainland, claiming the latter was involved in money laundering crimes.
After persuading the victim to deposit his or her own money into a newly-opened bank card, the ring members would next transfer the money out of the account.
During the crackdown, the police arrested 178 suspects on the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and in the Philippines, and uncovered 451 related phone fraud cases that were registered on the Chinese mainland, the statement said ….
This has been the third time this year that the police on the mainland and Taiwan had jointly destroyed such a large fraud group, the statement said.
Although still hampered by bureaucracy and political obstacles, such cooperation has improved in the wake of the 2009 Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance.
Taipei now hopes to persuade Beijing to hand the suspects over for trial on Taiwan. This would not be unprecedented: a fugitive Taiwanese judge was transferred from the mainland last November.
good update re Xinhua!
ReplyDeletequestion: if 5 of the alleged suspects were Americans or Brits and arrested in Manila for committing crimes while on the ground in Manila, could China have them sent to China for trial? no way. So why can they do this to Taiwanese nationals of ROC? It is pure MAD, mutal assured demoagogery! The trial should take place in the country where the crimes were done, which is Manila. Even if they used phone and emails, they suspects were in Manila. That is where trial should me. BUT since the Manila hostage fiascco with HK tourists killed, Manila is afraid of big China.
Anon interesting observation about the hostage situation.
ReplyDeleteTo Okami; Taiwanese, specially those hiring caretakers and caregivers prefer Indonesian,Vietnamese and Thais because even if they would not pay the worker's salary for 5 months or more, they will not complain.Even if they will make the foreign worker to be the caretaker/domestic helper for the whole clan nobody cares. You can check NGO's and other agency that handles migrant workers' cases of abuse and you will undestand why.
ReplyDelete