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President Ma attends exhibit marking sixth anniversary of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement
2015-04-24

President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of April 24 attended an exhibit in commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, during which he explained how the agreement effectively improved public safety in Taiwan.

In remarks, the president stated that crime is now frequently cross-border in nature, including activities such as drug smuggling, human smuggling, and telecom fraud. The president mentioned that many years ago when he was minister of justice, he sought to prevent hijacking incidents and the importation of ephedrine hydrochloride (a key ingredient in amphetamines) from mainland China. The success of these efforts, however, was limited since there was no mechanism in place for negotiations with the mainland. Consequently, he actively sought to improve cross-strait relations after taking office in 2008, and in 2009 Taiwan and mainland China signed the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement. Since taking effect, that agreement has closed many avenues of escape, as criminals are no longer free to flee to mainland China or even Southeast Asia with impunity.

The president said that joint crime-fighting and judicial mutual assistance touch on issues like sovereignty and jurisdiction that are decidedly difficult. Nonetheless, negotiations on these issues between the two sides proceeded quite smoothly, and nearly 80% of the public supported this agreement. Since its implementation, the two sides have sought judicial assistance in over 67,000 cases, and over 55,000 of those cases, or 81%, have been resolved. Such achievements of mutual judicial assistance are extremely remarkable, the president stated. Over the past six years, joint cross-strait crime-fighting efforts have cracked 141 crime cases and arrested over 6,200 criminals, and 405 fugitives have been repatriated across the Taiwan Strait.

The president also addressed telecom fraud, which at one point was rampant. He explained that the number of telecom fraud cases in Taiwan has fallen from over 40,000 in 2005 to about 10,000 last year, and the monetary value involved in these scams has dropped from NT$18.59 billion in 2006 to some NT$3 billion last year. As some criminals fled to Southeast Asia, the cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China was not limited to just the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Rather, the two sides send investigators to third jurisdictions and work to repatriate the suspects, he said.

The president then mentioned the 2013 case in which bombs had been planted on a high-speed train here, pointing out that the police in Taiwan confirmed the identity of the suspects on the day of the crime, and within five days they had been arrested in mainland China and returned to Taiwan. The two sides have also worked closely on cracking down on the drug trade, with the president saying that these two examples highlight the success of joint Taiwan-mainland crime-fighting efforts.

The president also commented that currently, several major economic criminals have yet to be repatriated. These suspects have made investments in mainland China, the president said, and mainland authorities have hesitated to repatriate suspects who contribute mightily to the national coffers through taxes each year. In addition, many economic crime suspects are also living in the United States with impunity, and the president reminded the Ministry of Justice to continue their efforts to have these individuals repatriated.

Lastly, the president applauded the work of the police and the Ministry of Justice in ensuring public safety in Taiwan. He hopes everyone will continue to be successful in these efforts and allow the public to really feel that the peace dividend brought about by improved cross-strait relations not only results in enhanced bilateral trade and investment, as well as economic cooperation, but also greater social stability and safety.

After completing his remarks, the president and the guests toured the exhibit to better understand the achievements of joint efforts by the two sides in combating crime.

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