‘Foreign govts deporting Taiwan citizens to China’

ACTIVISTS SAY CHINA IS FORCING INTL GOVTS TO SEND TAIWAN’S CITIZENS TO CHINA IN A CONCERTED BID TO UNDERMINE ITS ‘SOVEREIGNTY’

BEIJING/TAIPEI: Beijing has pressured foreign governments to deport hundreds of Taiwan nationals to China, a new report found, in what human rights activists describe as a “hunt for Taiwanese”.

More than 600 Taiwanese were extradited from various countries to China between 2016 and 2019 in an effort to “undermine Taiwanese sovereignty”, rights group Safeguard Defenders said in a report on Tuesday.

China claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as its territory, to be retaken one day by force if necessary, and has stepped up efforts in recent years to diplomatically isolate it.

China and Taiwan agreed in 2009 that police from both sides would return overseas suspects to their respective territories.

But Beijing began to increasingly ignore this agreement after the election of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, according to the NGO’s report.

As Tsai has tried to assert the island’s distinct identity, China has more aggressively professed its claim over Taiwan.

Safeguard Defenders said Beijing had pressured governments - including the Philippines and Cambodia - to extradite hundreds of Taiwanese mostly accused of telecoms fraud to China, despite efforts by the Taiwan government and the UN Human Rights Council to prevent the forced transfers.

Those extradited to China faced “arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and forced televised confessions”, Safeguard Defenders said.

159 jet incursions into Taiwan air zone in Nov Chinese warplanes made 159 incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone in November according to AFP’s database, the second-highest month on record as Beijing continues to pile military pressure on the democratic island.

Over the past 14 months, the sabre-rattling has reached new peaks after Beijing began sending an increasing number of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), which Chinese military aircraft had previously largely avoided.

China lashes out at ex-Japanese premier China lashed out at Shinzo Abe on Wednesday after the former Japanese prime minister warned of the serious security and economic consequences of any Chinese military action against the self-ruled democratic Taiwan.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Abe had “talked nonsense, pointed fingers at Taiwan issues and made irresponsible remarks on China internal affairs”.

“No one should underestimate the resolve determination, firm will and strong ability of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wen told reporters at a daily briefing.

“Anyone who dares to repeat militarism and challenge the bottom line of the Chinese people will surely be shattered in the face.”