Experts justify repatriation of Taiwan telecom fraud suspects to mainland

The deportation of 32 Taiwanese telecom fraud suspects from Malaysia to the Chinese mainland on Saturday complies with the international law and will help better fight crimes, experts have said.

A total of 97 suspects implicated in more than 100 major telecom fraud cases across the mainland, were repatriated, including 32 from Taiwan. All the victims of the fraud trap are mainland residents.

Wherever the criminals are, the mainland has territorial jurisdiction over these cases as the results of the fraud happened on the mainland, said Li Juqian, deputy head of the International Law School under China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL).

"It is in accordance with the international and mainland law that Malaysia deported the suspects to the mainland. The move is unchallengeable in terms of law," Li said.

China's law enforcement agencies have cooperated with their counterparts in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in cracking down on telecom frauds since 2011, according to Ma Chengyuan, a law professor with the CUPL.

Given diplomatic relations and extradition treaties that China established and inked with these countries, as well as criminal justice pacts signed with some of them, China can cooperate with them if crimes are committed there, no matter suspects are from the mainland or Taiwan, Ma said.

In late March, Malaysian and Chinese mainland police cooperated in destroying five telecom fraud dens located in Malaysia, and nabbed 117 Chinese suspects, including 65 from the mainland and 52 from Taiwan.

Among those from Taiwan, 20 were transferred to Taiwan authorities on April 15. The mainland government requested Malaysia to transfer the rest of the suspects to the mainland.

The mainland used to transfer Taiwanese suspects to Taiwan, which was in compliance with the relevant cross-Strait agreement and no more than an internal division of work, Ma said.

As stipulated by the mainland's Criminal Law, the mainland enjoys territorial jurisdiction over telecom fraud cases based overseas and targeting mainland legal persons and residents, as the results happen on the mainland.

Considering the comparative lighter punishment that telecom swindlers face in Taiwan, experts said, repatriating Taiwanese suspects to the mainland and trying them according to mainland laws will help better fight crimes and protect legitimate rights and interests of people across the Strait.

Telecom frauds could face a maximum prison sentence of five years in Taiwan, while the maximum is life sentence on the mainland, said Fan Chongyi, professor from the CUPL's Procedural Law Research Institute.

"Telecom fraud has been on the rise and done great harm to the interests of mainland legal persons and residents. Suspects who were sent back to Taiwan were given lenient sentences or even acquitted. Many of them later resumed swindling," Fan said.

Malaysia deported the suspects to the mainland "solely for the need to fight crimes," law expert Chen Jingtian said. "It is completely unnecessary to politicize the move." Endi