President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of November 28 with visitors participating in the International Symposium on Regional Security and Transnational Crime. In addition to welcoming the visitors on behalf of the government and people of Taiwan, the president also briefed them on substantive achievements in Taiwan's cooperation with mainland China and the Philippines to jointly combat crime.
In remarks, President Ma stated that he had mentioned at the conference that globalization has pushed countries toward greater consensus on the need for international cooperation in the fight against transnational crime. The president noted that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were unable to forge a joint crime fighting mechanism in the past due to their political and military confrontation, but since he took office in 2008 there has been progress in this respect. On April 26 of 2009, he said, Taiwan and mainland China signed the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, which has been enormously beneficial in cross-border investigations and handling of criminal cases.
President Ma further explained that since the two sides of the Taiwan Strait signed the agreement, authorities have jointly solved 73 major criminal cases, apprehended 5,485 suspects, and repatriated 280 criminals to Taiwan. In addition, he said, since some criminal suspects might try to flee to Southeast Asia, the cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China is not limited to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Rather, the two sides dispatch investigators to third areas to engage in investigations and then bring suspects back to Taiwan or mainland China, the president stated. President Ma said this leaves suspects nowhere to flee, and thus helps Taiwan to achieve its objective of working with other jurisdictions to jointly combat crime.
As for the results of Taiwan's cooperation with other nations in the combating of crime, the president noted, Taiwan and the Philippines in September of last year together cracked a cross-border scam group, and a plane was chartered to repatriate 290 suspects to Taiwan to face trial here. He stated that the Taiwan-Philippines Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed in April of this year, has become an important tool in combating crime, and it helps both governments to effectively maintain public order and safety.
Lastly, the president mentioned that when he served as minister of justice he worked actively to combat cross-border crime, and the purpose now in inviting experts, scholars, and officials to this conference was to provide for an exchange of opinions on a broad range of topics, including drug trafficking, weapons and human smuggling, and money laundering. President Ma said he hopes that Taiwan and other nations can continue to strengthen cooperation in these areas to better control cross-border crime.
Naif Arab University for Security Sciences Vice President Ali Bin Fayiz al-Jahni led the delegation of conference participants to the Presidential Office to meet President Ma.