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Taiwan, China to jointly investigate telecom fraud: official

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/22
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Taiwan and China will jointly investigate telecom fraud

Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪)

rings in Kenya and Malaysia that allegedly targeted residents of China before negotiating how Taiwanese nationals involved in the rings will be prosecuted, according to a Taiwanese official Friday.

Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪), director-general of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs under Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, gave the update upon her return from Beijing, where she discussed with Chinese officials the 45 Taiwanese suspects sent from Kenya to China earlier this month.

Kenya’s deportation of the 45 people to China angered Taiwan because it felt it should have jurisdiction over its own nationals. [FULL STORY]

Cross-strait consensus reached on telecoms fraud case

Taiwan Today
Date: April 22, 2016

Taiwan and mainland China reached consensus April 21 on jointly investigating

Taiwan’s delegation (right) prepares to negotiate future measures in fighting cross-border crime with their mainland Chinese counterparts April 21 in Beijing. (CNA)

Republic of China (Taiwan) nationals suspected of telecoms fraud in Kenya and Malaysia, as well as establishing procedures for handling any future cross-border criminal cases, according to the Ministry of Justice.

“The two sides have agreed to work together on investigating and collecting evidence in relation to the Kenya and Malaysia cases,” the MOJ said in an April 21 statement. “In addition, the well-being of our detained nationals involved in the Kenya case has been confirmed, and visits by family members will be arranged.”

A 10-member delegation of Taiwan officials arrived in Beijing April 20 to visit the 45 detainees forcibly deported from Kenya to mainland China by the Kenyan police earlier this month, and launch negotiations with their mainland Chinese counterparts. Headed by Chen Wen-chi, director-general of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs under the MOJ, the group comprises officials from the MOJ, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation. [FULL STORY]

DPP ‘scamming’ public on pork: KMT

BACKROOM DEALS?KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao said president-elect Tsai Ing-wen should make public details of what she ‘promised’ to US officials during her US trip

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 23, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has accused the Democratic Progressive

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday holds a news conference in Taipei to criticize the Democratic Progressive Party for changing its stance on US pork imports. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

Party (DPP) of “scamming” the public after Council of Agriculture minister-designate Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said in an interview that Taiwan does not have the leverage to refuse imports of US pork.

In an interview with the Chinese-language United Daily News, Tsao said that, while not a decision to be made solely by the council, opening up the nation to US pork imports containing the leanness additive ractopamine is “the direction” the future government is heading in.

The newspaper quoted Tsao as saying the council does not have the power to thwart globalization and that, while still too early to say, he does not want to lie to the nation’s pig farmers. [FULL STORY]

China steps up pressure on Taiwan ahead of president’s inauguration

Reuters
Date: Apr 21, 2016
By: Ben Blanchard and J.R. Wu

China is stepping up pressure on self-ruled Taiwan a month ahead of the inauguration of a president from a pro-independence party Beijing distrusts, signaling a rocky start for the leader of the island elected on a wave of anti-China sentiment.

In the past few weeks, China has established ties with former Taiwan ally Gambia, sent a top general to inspect troops based in a frontline province and scooped up dozens of Taiwanese from Kenya wanted in China for fraud – a move denounced by Taipei as being more about politics than crime.

And Taiwan said a hotline meant to expedite direct communication between the top government officials dealing with each other’s affairs had not been answered by China twice at critical times of late.

China regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be taken back by force if necessary and wants the new government to stick to the “one China” policy agreed upon with the outgoing China-friendly Nationalist government.

Only 22 countries recognize Taiwan as the “Republic of China”, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with the “People’s Republic of China”, with its leaders in Beijing. [FULL STORY]

More than 1,800 geese culled on Tainan farm due to avian flu

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/21
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Romulo Huang

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) A total of 1,832 geese on a farm in Tainan, southern

Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office

Taiwan, were culled Thursday after an avian flu outbreak was confirmed there, the Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office said.

The animal protection office said that it received a report on Tuesday of abnormal poultry deaths on a goose farm in in the city’s Gueiren district the previous day.

The farm was immediately quarantined and tests on tissue samples from the dead geese confirmed that they had been infected with the new H5 virus, which is highly pathogenic, the office said.

As a result, some 1,832 geese on the farm were culled, the office said, adding that it is supervising the cleaning and disinfection of the farm. [FULL STORY]

Tsai Ing-wen named in TIME’s top 100 most influential people

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-21
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Thursday TIME magazine named Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen in its annual list of the most influential people in the world.

The magazine named Tsai on its list of ‘Leaders’, while other notable figures in this category include the IMF chief Christine Lagarde, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and China’s President Xi Jinping.

The list is divided into five categories: pioneers, titans, artists, leaders and icons. Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and actor Leonardo Di Caprio are also named.

As the magazine has said of the list: “From pioneers like Lin Manuel-Miranda, to leaders like Christine Lagarde, to icons like Leonardo DiCaprio, our annual list highlights people exploring the frontiers of art, science, society, technology and more.” The list is meant to single out the world’s most influential men and women, not its most powerful. [FULL STORY]

Taipei, Beijing to jointly probe cross-border fraud rings

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/21
By: Lawrence Chiu and S.C. Chang

Beijing, April 21 (CNA) Officials of Taiwan and China have agreed to jointly

Chen Wen-chi (left / Photo from other media source)

investigate telecom fraud rings run by Taiwanese in Kenya and Malaysia that have allegedly targeted Chinese citizens, the head of a Taiwanese official delegation said Thursday.

Chen Wen-chi (陳文琪), director general of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs under Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, said the Chinese government also agreed to allow family members of the 45 Taiwanese suspects now detained in Beijing to visit them.

Chen had earlier in the day conducted talks with the Taiwanese suspects deported from Kenya to China earlier this month, using video link equipment in a large conference room, which was open to news cameramen from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. [FULL STORY]

Kenya case not a sovereignty issue: Ma

TAIWANESE IDENTITY:Having an independently elected government should be enough and declaring independence would be a dead-end, President Ma said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that the controversial deportation of

President Ma Ying-jeou, right, shakes hands with a member of a visiting Canadian delegation at the Presidential Office yesterday. Photo: CNA

several Taiwanese nationals from Kenya to China earlier this month has no bearing on sovereignty, but is a problem stemming from division of labor.

In an interview with the Singaporean newspaper the Straits Time at his office in Taipei on Tuesday, Ma said his administration was not happy with Beijing’s opaque handling of the case and its failure to consult with Taipei prior to the deportation from Kenya to China of 45 Taiwanese accused of telecom fraud on April 8 and April 12.

“However, technically, this incident is not a matter of sovereignty, but rather a matter of division of labor,” Ma said, adding that, in his opinion, Taiwan and China share concurrent jurisdiction over the case.

Ma said that under the 2009 Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議), when facing cases such as the Kenyan incident, both Taipei and Beijing are required to negotiate with each other first before deciding which side should take over the case or if both sides should deal with it jointly. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan Enjoys Best Press Freedom, Chinese Repression Goes To New Heights

The News Lens
Date: 2016/04/21
Translated and compiled by Bing-sheng Lee

Taiwan ranks 51 in the latest World Press Freedom Index, which is widely seen

Press freedom --- Image by © Simone Golob/Corbis

as the benchmark of press freedom around the world.

On April 20, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), a France-based international non-profit, non-governmental organization that advocates and safeguards freedom of information, released its 2016 World Press Freedom Index report.

Taiwan is ranked 51 among 180 countries in this year’s index, which is the same as last year’s result.

According to RWB, the press freedom report is published each year in spring and the index is made based on “an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists in 180 countries.”

Even though Taiwan ranks the highest among all the Asian nations in the index, Delphine Halgand, US director of Reporters Without Borders, says that there is still concerns over Taiwan’s press freedom. She says that some people are worried about China’s influence over Taiwan’s media and some Taiwanese media have already changed its stance toward a more pro-China position. [FULL STORY]

18 fraud suspects deported from Malaysia detained

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-21
By: Chao Li-yen and Elizabeth Hsu, Central News Agency

Taipei, 21 (CNA) Eighteen out of 20 fraud suspects who were deported back to Taiwan from Malaysia last Friday were placed in detention Thursday after their release last week sparked controversy in Taiwan as well as in China, where many of their alleged victims reside.

A court in Taichung, central Taiwan granted prosecutors’ request for the detention of main suspect Liu and 17 others. The prosecutors argued before the court that there was strong evidence against the 18 suspects and, unless detained, they would likely collude with each other to make their confessions match during trial and could even engage in more fraud.

The other two suspects who were deported back from Malaysia were ordered by the court to not leave the country or go out to sea pending their possible indictments and trial. [FULL STORY]

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