402 Taiwanese reported missing, questioned or detained in China: MAC

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) A total of 402 Taiwanese have been reported missing, questioned or detained in China since the beginning of 2024, with fraud accounting for 62 percent of the detention cases, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday.

Speaking at a legislative session, MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said figures covering the period Jan. 1, 2024 to July 22 this year showed that 154 Taiwanese had been reported missing in China, 32 had been held for questioning and 216 had been detained.

Of those detained, 134 were linked to fraud cases, 58 to other criminal cases, 23 to religious activities and one to a national security case, Chiu said.

He said the statistics were not intended to convey an "anti-China" political message but to make the public aware of the risks involved in traveling there.

Chiu also called on Beijing to use existing cross-strait mechanisms to ensure the safety of Taiwanese nationals.

"You cannot keep encouraging our people to travel to China for exchanges while completely disregarding their personal safety," he said.

The mechanisms Chiu referred to include the 2009 Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, under which each side is required to promptly notify the other when a person from the other side is deprived of personal liberty.

The agreement formally remains in place, but Taiwan has repeatedly said that Beijing has failed to respond to requests for information or assistance submitted through the mechanism, particularly in politically sensitive cases.

KMT lawmaker challenges MAC figures

During the session, opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Liao Hsien-hsiang (廖先翔) criticized MAC for repeatedly portraying travel to China as "dangerous," accusing the agency of promoting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's ideology rather than fulfilling its official duties.

He questioned MAC's decision to count Taiwanese detained for fraud or other criminal offenses as having encountered "travel risks," arguing that such cases involved clear violations of local laws rather than political activity.

"Leaving China aside, would we call it a travel risk if someone were detained in Japan or the United States for fraud or another criminal offense?" Liao asked.

Chiu did not directly address Liao's criticism of including fraud cases in the statistics, but noted that some of the 58 other criminal cases could involve China's national security laws or other broadly applied criminal provisions.

All 23 cases involving religious activities were prosecuted under Article 300 of China's Criminal Law, Chiu added.

That provision criminalizes organizing or using groups classified by Beijing as "cult organizations" to undermine the implementation of state laws and regulations.

MAC has previously said I-Kuan Tao practitioners have been detained under the provision and warned adherents against traveling to China to engage in religious activities.

Liao also noted that Taiwanese visits to China increased from about 2.77 million in 2024 to 3.23 million in 2025 despite the government's warnings.

Addressing the increase, Chiu said annual visits had exceeded 6 million during periods of relative calm in cross-strait relations. The figure of 3.23 million indicated that "many [Taiwanese] people still have concerns" about traveling to China.