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Reuters

Kenyan police broke through a police station wall and threw tear gas to force a second group of Taiwanese on to a plane bound for mainland China on Tuesday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said, in a bizarre diplomatic row in which Taiwan has accused China of abduction.
But a senior Kenyan official said the “people” were in Kenya illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from.
Taipei on Monday accused Beijing, which regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, of kidnapping eight of its nationals, who it said had been acquitted in a cybercrime case in Kenya, and deporting them to China on Friday from the Nairobi district of Kilimani.
It said Beijing had pressured Kenyan police to put the eight on the plane. Beijing said at the time it was seeking further information.
These people were here illegally and they were deported back to the place where they had come from
Mwenda Njoka, spokesman, Kenya’s Interior Ministry
“These ones were people who were here illegally and they were deported back to the place where they had come from,” Mwenda Njoka, spokesman for Kenya’s Interior Ministry, said on Tuesday.
“They came from China and we took them to China... Usually when you go to another country illegally, you are taken back to your last port of departure.”
On Tuesday, another 37 Taiwan nationals were forced on to a mainland Chinese plane, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said.

“The 15 locked up at the police station steadfastly refused to be deported (to China),” said Antonio C.S. Chen, the chief of Taiwan’s foreign ministry department in charge of West Asian and African Affairs.
“So police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then about 10 police entered with assault rifles,” Chen said.
When asked about the use of force, Njoka said that Kenyan police had “an obligation to ensure if people are here illegally they are taken back to where they came from”.
Beijing views Taiwan as a wayward province, to be brought under Beijing’s control by force if necessary.
Taipei demands Beijing release eight Taiwanese ‘abducted’ in Kenya
Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan as the “Republic of China”, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with the “People’s Republic of China”, with its Communist Party leaders in Beijing.
Kenya’s attorney general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cybercrime in Kenya for trial in their homeland.
But Taiwan said some of these people were from Taiwan and that a total of 23 of its people had been acquitted last Tuesday by a Kenyan court and given 21 days to leave.
When asked about the Taiwanese being returned to the mainland, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the “one China” principle should be followed.
“We highly appreciate the Kenyan government’s long-term determination on the One China principle,” Lu said.
Taiwan has been in an uproar since the eight were forcibly deported.
On Tuesday, Joseph Wu Chao-hsieh, secretary general of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which distrusts China, called on Beijing to immediately release those in its custody.
“This kind of action deepens the negative perception Taiwan society has of the Chinese side and is completely useless for the positive development of cross-strait relations,” said Wu.
This kind of action deepens the negative perception Taiwan society has of the Chinese side and is completely useless for the positive development of cross-strait relations
Joseph Wu, secretary-general, DPP
Chen said the 15 Taiwanese put on the plane on Tuesday likely had barred the door into the room they were being held in, while video footage carried by Taiwanese media showed young men speaking the Taiwanese dialect in a cramped room, readying for a fight against a closed door.
The video footage could not be verified by Reuters.


Taiwan says Kenyan police used tear gas to put Taiwanese on plane to mainland China

Johnny Chiang, from the Kuomintang party, displays a video clip in Taipei showing Taiwanese detained at a police station in Kenya. Photo: AFP April 12, 2016. Taiwan accused China on April 11 of kidnapping eight Taiwanese who had been cleared of criminal charges by a court in Kenya, and angrily demanded their immediate return from the mainland. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH

Chen Ting-fei, a lawmaker from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), speaks to the press at Parliament in Taipei on April 12, 2016. Taiwan accused China on April 11 of kidnapping eight Taiwanese who had been cleared of criminal charges by a court in Kenya, and angrily demanded their immediate return from the mainland. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH

Workers paste a sign reading "China illegally abducts Taiwanese people" during a press conference organized by lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at Parliament in Taipei on April 12, 2016. Taiwan accused China on April 11 of kidnapping eight Taiwanese who had been cleared of criminal charges by a court in Kenya, and angrily demanded their immediate return from the mainland. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH

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Update | Taiwan says Kenyan police used tear gas to put Taiwanese on plane to mainland China