Taiwan says China agrees to return 14 suspects

TAIPEI–Fourteen Taiwanese nationals, suspects in a major fraud case who triggered a diplomatic mini-crisis this year when the Philippines deported them to China, are to return home, authorities said.

The Chinese government has agreed to hand over the 14 after nearly four months of efforts to secure their return to Taiwan, said the Mainland Affairs Council, Taipei’s top China policy-making body, in a statement late Thursday.

The 14 will arrive in Taiwan to face justice in the near future, the council said without elaborating.

The Philippines deported the 14 Taiwanese suspects to mainland China — rather than Taiwan — in February after they allegedly swindled $20 million in an international scam targeting mainland Chinese.

Taiwanese authorities insisted that the suspects should have been sent back to face justice on the island instead and warned Manila that the incident had dealt a serious blow to bilateral ties.

Taiwan reacted by raising the screening period for Philippine workers and threatened to freeze hiring altogether. It did not follow through on the threat and later lifted the sanctions.