Taiwan protests Vietnam deporting fraud suspects to China

BEIJING – Taiwan has protested Vietnam sending four of its nationals accused of fraud to China, saying they were denied visits by Taiwanese diplomats and forcibly sent to the mainland under pressure from Beijing.

Scores of Taiwanese have been arrested around the world in the past year in connection with vast telecoms fraud scams targeting Chinese. Countries including Malaysia, Cambodia and Kenya have deported Taiwanese suspects to China, in deference to Beijing's claim to sovereignty over the self-governing island.

Taiwan has vigorously protested the deportations, saying it should be allowed to prosecute its own citizens. But it lacks diplomatic relations with many of the countries, which have close diplomatic and economic ties to Beijing.

Beijing contends that Taiwan gives light treatment to the suspects, who are accused of extorting hundreds of Chinese.