Taiwan accuses Philippines of
bowing to China
Taiwan protests Philippines'
China deportation
MANILA - TAIWAN on Wednesday accused the Philippines of bowing
to pressure from Beijing over the 'inhumane' deportation of alleged
Taiwanese criminals to China, and warned of retaliatory action.
The 14 Taiwanese, along with 10 Chinese nationals, were arrested
by Philippine authorities in December over alleged credit card
fraud and all were deported to China last week.
Donald Lee, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office,
which represents the island's interests in the Philippines, said
authorities ignored his request for the suspected fraudsters to be
returned to Taiwan.
'Furthermore, no prior notification of deportation was given to
my office, and the deportation itself proceeded secretly at
midnight, which shows no due respect to the government of Taiwan,'
Mr Lee told reporters.
'Succumbing to the pressure from the People's Republic of China,
this deportation is very inhumane, unfair and null and void.' He
said the move greatly impaired relations with the Philippines, and
warned Taiwanese authorities could retaliate against the tens of
thousands of Filipino workers in the island. 'How can the
Philippine government expect Taiwan to provide the deserved legal
rights and protection to the 80,000 OFWs (Filipino workers) in
Taiwan?,' Mr Lee said.
Taiwan has already this week increased the screening period for
Filipino people trying to enter the island to work, and threatened
to bar them from entry completely. -- AFP