New investigation of Safeguard Defenders exposes the PRC hunting Taiwanese overseas
- In Reports
- 03:48 PM, Dec 01, 2021
- Myind Staff
A brief report was released by Safeguard Defenders on China's Hunt for Taiwanese Overseas. It involves exposing international harassment campaign against Taiwanese nationals via deportations and extraditions.
Based in Madrid, the organization is a human rights NGO founded in late 2016. It released an eight-page report titled China’s Hunt for Taiwanese Overseas, which compiled data from news reports, government news releases and other sources available to the public.
The document presents “the fullest picture to date of this alarming trend. This international persecution of Taiwan nationals amounts to an assault on Taiwanese sovereignty, and is part of the larger global campaign under Xi Jinping to exploit extradition treaties, mutual law enforcement agreements, and other multilateral institutions for the Chinese Communist Party's political objectives.”
“Under increasing pressure from Beijing, foreign governments are instead forcibly sending them to the PRC, where they have no roots and no families. These forcible transfers are also often taking place following the denial of access to Taiwanese consular support or communication in the sending country, and sometimes followed by ongoing denial of contact with Taiwanese officials or family members once they are in the PRC,” the document reads.
These forced transfers put Taiwanese nationals at risk of severe human rights abuses. This pressure from Beijing is furthermore a direct refutation of the PRC's obligations under the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement. Just as much as it is being used to bolster Beijing’s influence abroad it is being used as a tool to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“Through transnational repression and formal extraditions, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] is pursuing economic fugitives, Uyghur refugees, human rights defenders and fleeing Hong Kongers. But one group that has received far less attention to date: hundreds of Taiwanese nationals have been detained and forcibly extradited to mainland China from around the world,” the group said in a news release.
Safeguard Defenders has documented over 600 cases between 2016 and 2019 of Taiwan nationals abroad who have been extradited or deported from countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe. However, they have not been returned to Taiwan. Out of them 219 from Spain, 117 from Cambodia and 79 from the Philippines, the document said.
Beijing’s refusal to fulfill its obligations is arguably a response to what it sees as the more pro-independence mentality of President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration, which came to power in May 2016, the document said.
It further added, “Conditions in China are such that fundamental human rights are wantonly denied, with impunity. These human rights abuses are both widespread and systematic as Safeguard Defenders has reported elsewhere, on arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and forced confessions. The extradition of Taiwanese nationals to the PRC under pressure from Beijing should very much be seen as a violation of their human right to a fair trial, and their right to be free from torture. The international community should take immediate steps to halt this practice.”
The document said, “This opposition doesn’t even have to wade into the politically charged ‘One China’ narratives.”
The global community should also allow Taiwanese representatives to participate in international forums, it said, adding that it is time for Taiwan to join the Interpol.
Image Courtesy: Safeguard defenders
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