Taiwan demands formal apology from Philippines over deportation row

Feb 20, 2011, 7:36 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan on Sunday demanded a formal apology from the Philippines for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese criminal suspects to China last month.

Premier Wu Den-yih made the remark on the eve of former Philippine senator Manuel Araneta Roxas's visit as an envoy of President Benigno Aquino in an attempt to mend ties.

'When envoy Ronax arrives in Taiwan, he must display sincerity and make a formal apology on behalf of the Philippine government,' Wu said.

'If the envoy cannot represent the Philippine government and make a formal apology to our government, we will consider it lacking sincerity,' he added.

The Philippines deported 24 members of a Manila-based telephone fraud ring - 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese - to China.

Manila authorities said the none of the suspects carried Taiwan passports, and that the Philippines upheld the 'one-China' policy.

But Taipei said Philippine police confiscated the Taiwanese' passports - which Manila admitted later - and insisted that the Philippine government respect Taiwan's sovereignty.

Taipei has since tightened the screening of permits for Filipino workers and maids, and threatened to enforce a ban until Manila has made a satisfactory explanation over the incident.

Wang Ju-hsuan, minister of the Council of Labour Affairs, said there are 370,000 foreign workers in Taiwan, including them 77,000 Filipinos.

'Filipino workers are not irreplaceable,' she said.

The Philippines cut diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1975 to recognize China, but maintains close trade ties with Taiwan.

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