The 20 fraud suspects deported back to Taiwan.

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) The Cabinet stressed Saturday that the government will not condone any criminal acts involving its nationals and has requested Chinese authorities to provide information regarding the alleged criminal activities of 20 phone fraud suspects deported a day earlier from Malaysia to Taiwan to facilitate their investigation.

On Friday, 20 of the 53 Taiwanese nationals arrested in Malaysia last month for their alleged involvement in telecommunications fraud against people in China were brought back to Taiwan, after Taiwanese authorities spent the entire day discussing the case with Malaysia and China to try to prevent the Malaysian authorities from deporting them to the mainland.

The suspects, however, were set free for "lack of solid evidence of their criminal activities" soon after their return, fueling criticism that Taiwan is a "heaven for fraud criminals."

In a statement issued Saturday, Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said Premier Simon Chang (張善政) made it clear that the government will not condone any criminal acts involving its nationals, during a meeting held on related issues Friday.

As soon as it learned that the 20 suspects were to be deported Friday, the Ministry of Justice wrote to China's Ministry of Public Security to request the relevant criminal information in order to conduct its investigation, the statement said.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau has also made a similar request with the Chinese side via a cross-Taiwan Strait liaison channel on joint crime-fighting and mutual judicial assistance, it said.

(By Tang Pei-chun and Y.F. Low)
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