Hundreds of Taiwanese extradited to China, says report

A new report by a human rights group has found more than 600 Taiwanese arrested overseas have been deported to China in recent years. Safeguard Defenders says the practice was being "used as a tool to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty". Taiwan, which considers itself an independent nation, has long insisted that Taiwanese arrested abroad should be sent back to the island. But Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that is a part of China.

Safeguard Defenders said the deportations, which it collated from media reports between 2016 and 2019, were "being used to bolster Beijing's influence abroad" and accused China of "hunting" down these Taiwanese. The Spain-based group pointed out that the Taiwanese sent to China "have no roots and no families", and warned that they were at risk of persecution and severe human rights abuses. It argues several nations are breaching international human rights laws in following extradition treaties with Beijing, and singled out Spain and Kenya for extraditing the most number of Taiwanese people to China.

China in the past argued that the Taiwanese suspects in some cases should be extradited to China as their victims included mainland Chinese.

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