Cambodian police arrested telecom fraud suspects and sent 180 Taiwanese individuals to China for trial.

Recently, Cambodia cracked down on a telecom fraud operation, arresting a total of 190 suspects, among which 10 are Chinese suspects and as many as 180 are Taiwanese suspects. All suspects, regardless of whether they are Taiwanese or Chinese nationals, have been deported to China for trial. On the 13th and 14th, all Taiwanese suspects were sent to China for detention and trial. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed strong protests regarding this matter, stating that it would continue to communicate and negotiate with the Cambodian government through multiple channels, hoping that China would send the suspects back to Taiwan for judicial proceedings, which concerns national dignity. However, many netizens tend to not want Taiwanese fraudsters to be extradited back to Taiwan. Apart from "loud protests," what else can the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do this time?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed the principle of nationality jurisdiction to protest against China.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that after receiving relevant information on April 1st, the office in Ho Chi Minh City believed that China should return the involved nationals to Taiwan for judicial review based on the "principle of nationality jurisdiction." It is reported that due to pressure from China, the Cambodian government did not provide a specific list or number of Taiwanese suspects to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry proposed a "Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance" requesting China to return the suspects to the Taiwan government for handling. So far, there has been no official response from China, or is it that China is too lazy to respond?

In 2021, a large number of Taiwanese people fell victim to the scam zones in Cambodia.

In 2021, China began to vigorously crack down on telecom and online game fraud, and put forward a deadline to warn fraud suspects, if the fraudsters do not automatically return to China within the time limit to surrender, the bank accounts and household registration of the fraud suspects themselves and their relatives and friends will be cancelled, under the policy of great persuasion to return, many Chinese people choose to return to China voluntarily, and gradually the gangster fraud syndicate began to look for Taiwanese who also speak Chinese to deceive, and many Taiwanese were sold as piglets hostage and taken to the park for telecommunications fraud. ( news source: Gongshi )

Cambodia issued a statement of love for China, adhering to the One China policy and upholding principles.

According to a report by the Liberty Times, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement today saying that the related repatriation measures are based on the current legal procedures of Cambodia, and are executed under the bilateral agreements within the framework of the extradition treaty and security cooperation between Cambodia and China, aiming to jointly combat transnational crime. The Cambodian government firmly upholds the "One China" policy. According to relevant Chinese laws, if convicted of fraud, one may face life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Netizens overwhelmingly hope that the suspect will not be sent back.

Due to the lack of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Cambodia, and Cambodia's distinctly pro-China stance similar to that of Myanmar and Thailand, Taiwanese people in the past have been deceived into being trafficked to scam parks for telecom fraud. They had to negotiate through "underground channels" to arrange for ransoms to bring the trafficked individuals back. Many Taiwanese even voluntarily entered the fraud industry. Regardless of whether it was voluntary or not, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has had very few cases it could handle. Hearing that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now "taking a hard stance" is truly laughable. Once the trafficked individuals have become suspects and are already pressed into China's dark prisons, will shouting for their release be effective?

The Chinese law governing Taiwanese criminals has become a form of alternative cross-strait unification, hasn't it? Taiwanese people are fed up with scams, and after news exposure, regardless of political ideologies, netizens overwhelmingly commented that it’s better for them to stay in China and not be sent back. Taiwanese courts are lenient on fraudsters, while China imposes heavier sentences. We shouldn't let these scammers return to continue harming others.

There are many things the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can do now. Besides loudly protesting, why not quickly investigate the names and immigration records of these Taiwanese fraud suspects? Perhaps these individuals have already obtained Chinese identity cards, and at this point, asking China for people might end up bringing a large number of "Chinese people" back to Taiwan. The Ministry of Justice should also take action. Just because the suspects are not detained in Taiwan does not mean that their fraud suspicions have been cleared. Why not first investigate their criminal activities before asking China for extradition?

In this article, Cambodian police arrested suspects involved in telecom fraud and sent 180 Taiwanese individuals to China for trial. The news first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.