Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia phoned his Chinese counterpart, Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun, Tuesday evening to discuss the deportation of dozens of Taiwanese citizens from Kenya to China, reports said.

An estimated 45 Taiwanese nationals had been found not guilty by a court in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, but instead of expelling them to Taiwan, the authorities in the African country were planning to put all of them on flights to China. Eight were reportedly already being held in Beijing.

Taiwan’s government said earlier Tuesday that it wanted to send an envoy to China to lodge a protest and work on the release of the Taiwanese citizens.

The hotline between the MAC and the TAO was only installed last year to be used in emergency situations. This was reportedly the first time the two ministers themselves used it.     [FULL  STORY]