Details unclear in Philippines murder case involving Taiwanese suspect: MAC

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday that it had "no detailed information" about a Taiwanese woman who was arrested in South Korea and reportedly was facing extradition to China for her alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of two individuals in the Philippines in June.

The suspect could be extradited from South Korea to China under an extradition treaty between the two countries, while the Philippines also has jurisdiction over the case, as that is where the alleged crime took place, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news conference.

"The MAC has no detailed information on the case," he said, referring to the alleged kidnapping and murder of an American and a Chinese citizen in the Philippines in June.

According to Liang, Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Wednesday that it would look into the case.

Liang said Taiwan has jurisdiction in such cases only if the crime committed abroad by a Taiwanese suspect carries a prison sentence of at least three years.

In the Philippines case, it remains unclear whether the Taiwanese is the main suspect or an accomplice, therefore, the minimum sentence cannot be determined, he said.

Liang also said that Taiwan does not have any data on Taiwanese nationals serving prison sentences in China, or on those who were extradited to China after committing crimes in other countries, as Chinese authorities do not disclose such information.

The MAC, however, has statistics on the number of Taiwanese involved in cross-border telecom fraud, he said, adding that about 600 had been extradited to China from other countries for such suspected offenses from 2016 to May 31 this year.

Liang's comments about extradition issues followed a series of news reports on Sept. 23 about a Taiwanese referred to as Lee Na (李娜), who was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a Chinese national surnamed Xia (夏) and an American citizen of Chinese descent surnamed Sun (孫).

According to the Chinese news outlet National Business Daily, Lee Na had invited Xia and Sun to the Philippines in June to discuss a potential business venture. Upon arrival in the island country on June 20, the two people were kidnapped, and they were killed on June 24, the report said.

Another Chinese news outlet Red Star News reported on Sept. 23 that Lee Na had been arrested in Seoul on Sept. 22 and would be extradited to China.

The CIB confirmed on Tuesday that the suspect was a 44-year-old Taiwanese born in Taipei, and it said that the woman's real surname was Chen (陳).

The same day, the Ministry of Justice's Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs said that the relevant agencies in Taiwan were following the case closely.