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China seen as haven for Taiwan fugitives
2007-01-19
A corporate chairman who vanished this month amid accusations he stole millions of dollars from his Taiwan company reportedly took a well-mapped northwest passage out of trouble: he went to China. Wang You-theng, founder of the Rebar Asia Pacific Group, joins another 72 mostly white-collar criminal suspects believed by the Taiwanese government to be hiding on the Chinese mainland. Taiwan escapees can easily elude Chinese police as they blend in racially and linguistically. Some crime suspects even go into business, with China's tacit understanding. But China denies it is a haven for fugitives from political arch-rival Taiwan. A Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau spokeswoman in Taiwan said, however, that of the 227 Taiwan criminal suspects now overseas, China had the biggest share. Some are prominent business people. Of the 73 Taiwanese suspects believed to be in China, 60 are suspected of economic crimes and most of the others are wanted for corruption. Beijing has returned just three suspects to Taiwan. China, which has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the Communists won power on the mainland in 1949, allows Taiwan citizens to pass its borders with minimal hassle. "This matter has to do with politics. It's not in the interest of people in Taiwan or mainland China," said Liu Renwen, a law professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. "If there were not an issue between the two governments, this would be pretty easy." On Wednesday, a Chinese government spokesman drew reporters' attention to Taiwan media reports saying that Wang had entered China but left last Saturday for the United States. Wang and his wife reportedly fled to China the day after two of his group's listed units said they were reorganizing after years of debts and heavy losses. Depositors at a bank owned by the group rushed to withdraw money, leading to a government takeover. Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang, under political pressure to crack the case, called on China to return Wang. He also lamented that some Taiwan fugitives donated money to China. As U.S. authorities helped Taiwan look for Wang this week, local TV channels showed images of a mansion and swimming pool they say Wang owns near Los Angeles. DIALOGUE FROZEN In 1990, Taiwan and China reached a broad consensus to return criminal suspects. They would be ferried directly across the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan and China, in boats provided by the Red Cross. But for lack of more detailed law-enforcement cooperation, Taiwan depends on individual Chinese police bureaux to pursue fugitives and send them to neutral ground such as Macau for recapture by Taiwan. Some Chinese police willingly get involved, said Sandy Yeh, a professor at the Central Police University in Taiwan. "Police are fighting the same war against crime," Yeh said. "Mainland China doesn't want Taiwan criminals hiding over there." Last week, police in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming caught a Taiwan man suspected of stealing T$56 million from an armored vehicle. He is due to be returned to Taiwan. But unlike most of the criminal suspects believed to be in China, he was a blue-collar worker. There are a number of cases involving high-profile business figures believed to have fled to China. Business tycoon Chen You-hao, founder of the defunct Tuntex Group real estate conglomerate, reportedly went to China in August 2002 and took up Chinese citizenship. He is wanted in Taiwan on embezzlement charges. Former National Security Bureau chief cashier Liu Kuan-chun is suspected of embezzling T$192 million ($5.9 million). He left Taiwan in 2000, according to local media reports. On Wednesday, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu said that in light of the Rebar case, Beijing and Taipei should resume talks on getting tough on crime fighting. Some in Taiwan believe China must do more, including owning up to its own fugitives in Taiwan. "What should be done? That's a good question," said Steve Chen, director of the Conflict Study and Research Center at Chang Jung University in Taiwan. "We should have a dialogue between China and Taiwan. I think international pressure is getting stronger and stronger. Hopefully some day they'll have a judicial agreement."
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