Taipei, Dec 1 : At least 610 Taiwan nationals have been extradited by foreign government to Beijing instead of Taipei between 2016 and 2019 after being pressured by Chinese authorities, according to human rights group Safeguard Defenders.
Al Jazeera cited the report’s investigation as revealing that Beijing has been pressuring foreign governments to extradite Taiwan nationals to China as part of an effort to undermine the self-ruled island and the pressure has increased since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president five years ago.
While China continues to press its claims on Taiwan, the two had agreed about a decade ago that the police will work together in third countries to help return overseas suspects to their respective countries.
According to Safeguard Defenders’s report published on Wednesday, China had been ignoring the deal, including the election of Tsai.
“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,” the group said.
The report said the transfers often took place after the Taiwanese were denied access to consular support or communication from Taipei, and were sometimes followed by ongoing denial of contact with