Taiwan's deportation of the telecom fraud suspects was seen by mainland China as tolerance to crime. (Photo : Getty Images)
Forty-five Taiwanese fraud suspects will be facing trial under China’s judicial system as Beijing puts the blame on Taipei for the sudden emergence of massive telecom scams that victimized Chinese citizens.
A recent report from Reuters said that China is making its move to punish all who were found guilty of involvement in the extensive telecom scam that cost the country billions dollars worth of financial losses.
Trial in China
Chen Shiqu, a top official from the Ministry of Public Security, told the Taiwanese delegation who went to Beijing on Wednesday that they will be proceeding with the case against the suspects who would face trial in China.
"The suspects specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland and their victims are from the mainland," he stated. "Not to mention that many of the suspects are themselves from the mainland. They will thus be investigated, prosecuted and tried in accordance with mainland law."
According to Chen, all 45 of the accused Taiwanese nationals have already pleaded guilty to the crime, adding that Chinese law enforcers "will spare no efforts" in ridding the country of the telecom fraud.
The Chinese judicial system had been criticized in Taiwan.
However, Reuters said that the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice confirmed on Thursday that all of the suspects appear to be in good health when the delegation from Taipei visited them.
Blaming Taiwan
According to a separate Reuters report, China strongly believes that Taiwan had a hand in the sudden explosion of telecom scams that targeted Chinese citizens.
Citing Chinese media, the outlet said that Taiwan had weak punishments for criminals which is why more criminals surface.
However, Taiwan clarified that they are a government of democracy and thrown the blame back at China for not providing ample amount of proof for Taipei to make any moves against the accused.
"We are a democratic, rule of law country," Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau senior official Chang Wen-yuan told the outlet. "In this respect, we emphasize the proof or lack of evidence. You can't just say, 'today media reports the person committed a crime,' just like that."
China's comment on Taiwan's justice system came after the island released 20 suspects who were linked to the telecom scam after finding "incomplete evidence for any crime and a lack of arrest warrants," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"By releasing the suspects, Taiwan authorities disregarded many victims' interests and harmed them a second time," China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson An Fengshan told the outlet. "It also harmed the two sides' cooperation in jointly cracking down on crimes."
