China fails to promptly notify Taiwan on detention of citizens: MAC

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) For the past eight years the Chinese authorities have failed to observe cross-strait agreements and promptly inform its counterparts in Taiwan of cases where Taiwanese citizens have had their freedom of movement restricted in China, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday.

The notification mechanism regarding Taiwanese whose personal freedoms are restricted in China is part of past cross-strait agreements, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news conference.

"Since May 20, 2016 (the date when former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office), the implementation of these cross-strait agreements has been disrupted by political interference from the Chinese authorities," Liang added.

He urged the Chinese authorities to fulfill their commitments in accordance with the original agreements.

One of the cross-strait agreements related to the notification mechanism is the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (the Agreement), established by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taiwan and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in China.

The SEF is a semi-official organization in Taiwan that handles technical matters in cross-strait relations and the ARATS is its Chinese counterpart.

According to Article 12 of the Agreement, both parties "agree to promptly notify the other side regarding persons whose personal freedom has been restricted."

In other words, when a Taiwanese citizen is detained in China, the Chinese authorities are required to promptly inform their Taiwanese counterparts. Similarly, Taiwan is required to do the same for Chinese citizens under similar circumstances.

Liang's remarks came in response to a statement made by China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) at a Wednesday news conference, where she said the reason for the disruption in the implementation of cross-strait agreements are "well known" when addressing the case of Taiwanese citizen Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒).

Twenty-two-year-old Kuo is currently under investigation in China for his alleged involvement in fraud. He went missing soon after arriving in Shanghai on Aug. 27, and his friends and relatives have been unable to contact him since.

However, it was not until Sept. 23, when the TAO issued a news statement confirming Kuo was under investigation by relevant agencies in China due to alleged involvement in fraud, that his whereabouts were made known.

The MAC issued a news statement later on Sept. 23, expressing "strong dissatisfaction" with the Chinese authorities as Kuo's situation was not disclosed until almost one month after his apparent detention.

Liang said at the press conference that Kuo was likely detained since early September, and the absence of a proactive notification from the Chinese authorities led to concerns on the part of his family and media speculation.

"It wasn't until after the incident surfaced, when we made inquiries and even publicly demanded answers, that they (the Chinese authorities) revealed he is currently being investigated for fraud," he added.

Kuo's case clearly demonstrates the necessity of a notification mechanism, which provides both sides of the Taiwan Strait with more accurate information, Liang noted.

In terms of the number of cases notified by China to Taiwan since the Agreement came into effect in 2009, information on the MAC website shows that, as of the end of July this year the Chinese authorities have notified Taiwan of a total of 8,123 cases in which Taiwanese citizens were detained in China.

Of the 8,123 cases, the primary types of criminal cases involved were fraud, smuggling, dangerous driving, drug-related offenses, including both drug trafficking and drug use, and traffic incidents.

In addition, 4,203 of the total were notified from the end of May 2016 (around the time Tsai took office) to late May 2024 (around the time President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) took office), and zero cases from then until the end of July.