Taiwan, Cambodia in talks over sending of 179 fraud suspects to China

Hanoi, April 10 (CNA) Taiwan is continuing talks with Cambodia to prevent 179 Taiwanese fraud suspects from being deported to China, a police liaison officer in the region said Thursday.

The unnamed Ho Chi Minh City-based liaison officer for Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) told CNA that the CIB has been negotiating with Cambodian authorities so that the suspects are sent to Taiwan instead to face legal consequences.

Recent Cambodian media reports suggested that the Taiwanese suspects were to be handed over to China as a goodwill gesture to Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory.

The Taiwanese suspects, arrested on March 31 during a round of raids of an online telecommunication fraud center in Phnom Penh, are scheduled to be deported on April 13 along with over 300 Chinese nationals.

The decision was also made ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's (習近平) upcoming visit to the Southeastern Asian country from April 17-18, a source told CNA.

The Taiwanese suspects were arrested together with seven alleged Chinese co-conspirators accused of running online fraud schemes, according to the Cambodia-China Times.

More than 600 Taiwanese people arrested overseas for their alleged involvement in telecommunication fraud were deported to China between 2016 and May 2024, figures released by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) showed.

Suspects were sent to China instead of Taiwan because most countries where the arrests were made have extradition treaties with Beijing, according to the MAC.