China Jails 29 Taiwanese Deported From Spain

A Beijing court sentenced 29 people from Taiwan who had been deported from Spain to up to 14 years in jail on Thursday for telecoms fraud, state media said, part of a series of deportations decried by Taiwan as an abuse of human rights.

In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud have been deported to the mainland, sometimes forcibly, from countries including Kenya, Cambodia and Armenia, according to the Taiwan government.

Beijing has defended the deportations, saying they involved people suspected of defrauding Chinese citizens and that they should be tried in mainland courts.

In the latest judgement, a Beijing court ruled that the suspects had defrauded people living in China by calling them from their base in Spain and claiming to be Chinese law enforcement officials, the Beijing News said.

A total of 14 victims were defrauded out of more than 6.17 million yuan (US$941,985), it said.

Chiu Chui-cheng, deputy head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said more information on the case was being sought, and urged Beijing to cooperate in fighting crime.

The deportations have arisen from the "one-China" policy of most countries under which they maintain formal relations only with the People's Republic of China, rather than Taiwan.

Taipei has complained about a lack of due process and expressed concern about mistreatment of its people in mainland jails.

Mainland authorities have sought to contain an explosion of telecom crime they say has led to huge financial losses, with callers often impersonating officials or authority figures and preying on the elderly, students or the unemployed.

The fraud has spread overseas, with Mandarin speakers recruited in Taiwan setting up operations in East Africa or Southeast Asia. (Reuters)