Taiwanese telecom fraud suspects deported to mainland China ‘confess’
Police say fraud probe has been made difficult because some suspects were returned to island
Thirty-two people from Taiwan who were controversially deported from Malaysia to the mainland over allegations of fraud have confessed, the public security ministry said on Sunday.
The Taiwanese and 65 other suspects who were deported on April 30 belonged to five criminal syndicates, the ministry said.
The news came as mainland police and a delegation of judicial officials from Taiwan wrapped up a three-day meeting in Zhuhai, where the suspects are being held at two detention centres.
Mainland police agreed yesterday to arrange for family members to visit the suspects.
Taiwan and Beijing have engaged in a war of words over the deportation of the suspects from Malaysia.
Beijing ‘takes aim at Taiwan’s president-elect’ over deportations
Beijing says the suspects are wanted for crimes committed against mainlanders and so should be deported to the mainland rather than Taiwan, while politicians in Taiwan say the move is a means of pressuring the island ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen.
