Taiwan protests over Armenia deportations to China

Taiwan protested on Wednesday after Armenia deported 78 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China, the latest such deportation to spark a dispute with Beijing.
The suspects had been held since Aug. 26 by Armenian police, who confiscated their passports and telecom equipment while concealing their whereabouts from lawyers, according to Taiwanese authorities.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), its top China policy-making body, said it immediately lodged a protest with Beijing after being notified of the deportation.
“We have repeatedly demanded the Chinese side not to deport our people to mainland China. The Chinese side’s action again disregarded our call ... and further hurt the feelings of Taiwanese people,” it said in a statement.
The MAC said it would continue negotiating with China to secure the suspects’ return to Taiwan to face trial. 
Armenia’s actions are the latest in a series of deportations of Taiwanese to China, with Taipei accusing Beijing of “abducting” citizens from countries that do not recognize the Taiwanese government.

Source: Arab News