Mainland seeks Taiwan help on info of smugglers ( 2003-09-12 07:13) (China Daily)
ARATS, the quasi-official organization in charge of cross-Straits affairs on
the mainland, wrote to its Taiwanese counterpart Thursday, demanding help in
collecting information about the human smugglers arrested on the mainland and
about the 20 women stowaways rescued by island authorities.
Two Chinese
mainland stowaways weep after being arrested by the Taiwan Coast Guard at
Taichung harbour August 26, 2003. At least six illegal mainland immigrants
drowned at sea off Taiwan after human smugglers threw them and 15 others
overboard to lighten their load so they could speed away from authorities.
[HK Edition]
It is the third time that the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan
Straits (ARATS) has written to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) since
August 26, when 26 mainland women were dumped overboard by people smugglers on
the island's west coast, said a anonymous ARATS official.
The incident killed six , the other 20 women were later rescued and two were
injured.
Since then relevant departments on the mainland have launched an intensive
investigation, said the official.
The Ministry of Public Security, the Red Cross Association of China and the
Frontier Bureau in East China's Fujian Province have done tremendous and
painstaking work, she added.
By August 29, 18 snakehead suspects, including four Taiwanese, were arrested
on the mainland, the official said.
In a two-page letter to SEF yesterday, ARATS also included general
information about the four Taiwanese suspects, such as their names, addresses
and mobile phone numbers.
It demands that Taiwan authorities provide relevant information about the
suspects and information about the five snakeheads suspects arrested on the
island.
In addition, it also asks for the Taiwan side to provide detailed information
on how the rescued women got on the smugglers' boat.
As of press time, there had been no response from SEF, according to the
official.
The official stressed that the mainland always attaches great importance to
protecting the legitimate interests of compatriots on both sides of the Straits
as well to cracking down on all criminal activities that infringe on the rights
of the people.
On August 29 and September 10, ARATS wrote twice to SEF for help with
information about the suspects and the smuggling case.
ARATS and SEF are the two quasi-official organizations in charge of
cross-Straits ties in the absence of any official links between Beijing and
Taipei.
Hundreds of mainland women are attracted to Taiwan every year by the promise
of high-paying jobs, but most of them ended up in prostitution.
Statistics indicate that in the first eight months of this year, 1,231
mainlanders smuggled to the island, including 914 women, were sent back to the
mainland, in eight groups.
At the same time, a total of 13 illegal Taiwanese immigrants were sent back
to the island.
