China Accuses Detained Taiwan Student of 'Widespread Fraud'

TaiwanPlus News

Chinese authorities have revealed that the Taiwanese college student surnamed Guo in custody after going missing in Shanghai last month is being investigated for widespread fraud.

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00:00Chinese authorities have now disclosed that they have been investigating this 22-year-old

00:06Taiwanese student who went missing in Shanghai about a month ago.

00:10A Beijing spokesperson said the student, surnamed Guo, who was only recently confirmed as being

00:16in Chinese custody, is suspected of committing widespread fraud.

00:21Taiwanese authorities have condemned the way China has communicated with them about the

00:26case as being too slow and unclear.

00:38Guo traveled to Shanghai at the end of August, but his family lost contact with him within

00:43days of his arrival.

00:46Beijing's confirmation of Guo's detention a month later, the first they'd heard about

00:50Guo's whereabouts.

00:52Taiwan says that delay in disclosing the matter does not follow the 2009 cross-strait

00:58agreement on joint crime fighting, which includes a pledge to exchange information about Taiwanese

01:04and Chinese criminal suspects and to jointly help apprehend and repatriate them.

01:10But Chinese authorities maintain they are abiding by the law.

01:33Guo's case is just one of many where Taiwanese authorities say their Chinese counterparts

01:38failed to report investigations in a timely manner.

01:42Worries over this gap in communication have been heightened since Beijing released legal

01:47guidelines for punishing, quote, independence diehards earlier this year, forcing Taiwan

01:54to warn its citizens against non-essential travel across the strait.

01:59Guo's family is concerned about his well-being and maintains his innocence against China's

02:04accusations of fraud.

02:16China has previously used cases like Guo's to put pressure on Taiwan's government.

02:21And with details still limited about the specifics of his case, it is unclear what will come

02:27of the investigation and if or how soon Guo will be allowed to return home.

02:33Fu Huahong and Joyce Zeng for Taiwan Plus.

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