Wang Chuo-chun and Meng JIanzhu on Cross-Strait Win/Win

Wang Chuo-chun and Meng JIanzhu on Cross-Strait Win/Win
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
June 14, 2011

Police on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are cooperating with police in Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. They are engaged in cross-Strait and transnational crime-fighting efforts. Authorities from these six regions are conducting a coordinated sweep of criminal organizations running confidence games. They have arrested 598 suspects. Among them, 186 are from the Chinese mainland, 410 are from Taiwan, one is from Cambodia, and one is from Vietnam. They have broken up 160 confidence game centers. They have seized bank cards, computers, mobile phones, and numerous other tools of the trade. Suspects from Taiwan have been successfully captured in Cambodia and Indonesia and returned to Taiwan for interrogation. This is unprecedent in Republic of China history, on both Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

In September 1990, Red Cross organizations from both sides of the Strait met in Kinmen. They discussed cooperation in combating criminal activities, in the handling of illegal immigrants and criminal suspects, and in the repatriation of criminals. They signed the Kinmen Agreement for Cross-Strait Police Cooperation. They targeted major criminal cases, including murders, drug trafficking cases, and media cases. The SEF and ARATS signed the "Cross-Strait Mutal Legal Assistance Crime-fighting Agreement" two years ago. But it remains a work in progress.

The current cross-Strait and transnational effort has netted a large number of criminal organizations responsible for running confidence games. The current effort originated from clues gathered by Taichung district prosecutors while investigating telecommunications fraud. High-level police officials on both sides of the Strait considered these cases of great importance. They discussed options for cooperation. They focused not just on homicides and kidnapping, but on innocent people taken in by telecommunications fraud. Police on both sides of the Strait have been attentive to the feelings of the people.

Taiwan style confidence games appeared on the crime scene over 20 years ago. In the early days, they mailed letters and handed out flyers. When recipients phoned in, they were conned. Later this evolved into the use of home phone landline calls which did not reveal their location. They conned their victims while hiding in the dark. As communications technology advanced, Taiwan style confidence games took a Great Leap Forward. They established fixed or mobile machine rooms. By connecting with the Internet, they cast a global net and raked in money from the world over.

In the early days, the police and courts on Taiwan attached little importance such confidence games. They simply appealed to the public through the media, urging them not to be moved by greed. In recent years however, the number of individuals and families victimized by telecommuncations fraud has soared. Middle class and upper class people have also been conned. They too have lost money. Public discontent has swelled. Only then did police begin looking into these crimes. Such investigations, along with media coverage and public education, have reduced the number of victims on Taiwan. Con artists now perceive the Chinese mainland as the emerging market for telecommuncations fraud. They have "gone west," en masse. They have spread to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia to avoid being tracked down.

Taiwan style confidence games have begun operating cross-Strait and transnationally. Therefore police must have cross-Strait and international mobility. Otherwise they can only sit passively outside their nation's doors, hoping eventually to make an arrest. This is why over the past 20 years, murderers, drug traffickers, economic criminals, corrupt politicians, and telecommunications fraud con artists have moved to the Chinese mainland. Last year and this year, National Police Administration Chief Wang Cho-chun made two visits to the Mainland. He met directly with State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu. Central government officials have long met through intermediaries. Breaking with precedent has helped cross-Strait police cooperation.

This move brought down cross border, transnational organizations running telecommunications confidence games. On Taiwan, the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau was in charge. On the Mainland, according to Xinhua, "The case was under the direct command of State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu. The Ministry of Public Security and Taiwan police officials conducted joint operations. Together with Cambodian and Indonesian police officials, they coordinated their efforts and closed the net."

Cross-Strait relations have warmed over the past three years. Mutual cooperation has increased. Bilateral agreements have been signed, and successful exchanges have taken place. ECFA has been a genuine help to industrialists, farmers, and fishermen on Taiwan. But many people remain unmoved. They insist that the Chinese mainland is making concession merely for the sake of reunification, and that only certain targets and certain groups benefit.

Wang and Meng met. They midwifed the birth of a way to bring down telecommuncations fraud. This shows that cross-Strait cooperation and a willingness to do real work, brings one closer to the common people. Such cross-Strait cooperation may raise concerns about linkage with reunification. Among the victims of telecommunications fraud, Mainland residents outnumber Taiwan residents. Since December of last year, the Chinese mainland has been hit by telecommunications fraud in one city after another, in Chongqing, Shaanxi, Hunan, and Fujian, Prosecutors and police on Taiwan are investigating these crimes. They can prevent many people from being victimized on the Mainland. They can ensure justice for those who are already victims.

Mutual assistance in law enforcement and criminal prosecution requires considerable cross-Strait cooperation. Conspicuous crimes such as drug trafficking and trafficking in human beings, along with violent crimes, inflict enormous damage on law and order. The organizations committing these evil deeds long ago crossed the Strait and internationalized. Unilateral police action inevitably leads to unnecesary duplication, and is unlikely to be effective. Only cross-border law enforcement can successfully achieve the larger goals. Cross-Strait cooperation in combating criminal organizations has achieved results. It offers a model for other forms of cooperation, in the political, economic, social and cultural fields. Cooperation such as this can achieve real results. How can people not be moved?

王卓鈞與孟建柱詮釋兩岸雙贏
【聯合報╱社論】 2011.06.14

兩岸警方與印尼、柬埔寨、馬來西亞和泰國警方合作，開展跨兩岸、跨國打擊犯罪行動，六地同步掃蕩詐騙集團，逮捕五九八名嫌犯；其中大陸居民一八六名、台灣居民四一○名、柬埔寨居民一名、越南居民一名，又搗毀詐騙據點一○六處，繳獲銀行卡、電腦、手機等一大批作案工具。台籍部分嫌犯，已先後從柬埔寨及印尼以專機押解返台接受偵訊，這是我國治安史上首例，在大陸也是空前。

從民國七十九年九月，兩岸紅十字會在金門舉行會談，討論合作打擊違法犯罪活動，協商偷渡犯和刑事嫌疑犯、刑事犯遣返問題，並簽署金門協議起，兩岸警方合作項目，多鎖定惡性重大的刑案、突發命案、販毒集團，且視個案受社會輿論關注程度而定。即使海基會和海協會前年簽署過「海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議」，操作模式仍待發展。

這次跨兩岸、跨國大抓詐騙集團，源起於台中地檢署偵辦電信詐騙案所掌握的線索；兩岸警方高層能重視這樣的刑案，顯示彼此選擇合作項目時，不再只著重驚悚社會的血案、綁架案，也關注到了誘使不特定民眾無辜上當的電信詐騙案。亦即，兩岸警察此次行動已經貼近庶民感覺。

台式詐騙集團出現江湖逾廿年，早期模式是廣發信件，寄傳單通知中獎為餌，接到查詢電話再行騙；後來演變成利用家庭電話座機來電不顯示作為屏蔽，躲在暗處拐騙。隨著通訊技術進步，台式詐騙集團伎倆大躍進，成立固定或移動式機房，結合網路中轉，撒下天羅地網，到處騙錢。

早年台灣警方和司法單位並不重視這類騙案，只是透過媒體呼籲民眾別貪心就不會失財；直到近幾年，受電信詐騙所害的人和家庭直線上升，中產階級、社會上層人士也上當失財，民怨高漲，警方才認真查究這類刑案。加上媒體不斷報導的提醒與教育之功，台灣人上當比率降低，此時，騙徒發現大陸才是電信詐騙的新興市場，不但集結西進，還分散至鄰近東南亞國家，逃避緝查。

當台式犯罪團夥兩岸化、國際化後，如果警方不掌握兩岸與國際的行動力，就只能被動等在國門口，守著抓人。這是過去廿多年，殺人犯、毒犯、經濟犯、貪汙犯及電話詐騙犯紛紛避走大陸的主要原因。去年和今年，我警政署長王卓鈞兩度登陸，與大陸國務委員、公安部長孟建柱見面會談，打破兩岸中央官署要戴白手套接觸的障礙，對爾後雙方警察展開合作項目必有助益。

這次能一舉摧毀跨境、跨國電信詐騙犯罪集團，在台灣由直屬警政署的刑事警察局擔綱；在大陸，據新華社報導：「這起案件是在國務委員、公安部長孟建柱高度重視和直接指揮下，公安部和台灣警方聯合作戰，聯手柬埔寨、印尼警方，組織開展的集中統一收網行動。」

兩岸關係緩和及倡議相互合作三年來，雖然簽署了很多雙邊協議，成功進行了許多交流，ＥＣＦＡ也確實照顧了台灣產業界和農漁民，然而還是有很多人「無感」；總認為那是大陸為統戰而讓利，只有特定對象、特別團體受益。

這次王、孟兩會後催生的掃蕩電信詐騙集團模式，反映兩岸合作，只要肯辦實事，結果是可以更貼近庶民的感受。這樣的兩岸合作，也沒有某些人擔心的統戰讓利問題，因為這個電信詐騙集團的受害人中，大陸居民比台灣居民還多。從去年十二月份起，大陸重慶、陝西、湖南、福建等地相繼發生數額巨大的電信詐騙案，台灣檢警查辦這個犯罪集團，可以挽救許多大陸無辜者，並為已受騙苦主伸張正義。

在刑事和司法互助領域，需要兩岸合作幹實事的項目還有不少，犖犖大者如販毒和販賣人口，摻雜著暴力血腥，為害治安至鉅；參與幹這些壞事的集團早已兩岸化、國際化，僅靠單邊警力偵蒐，必然事倍功半，難以收效，必須跨境跨國執法，才能克奏膚功。這次兩岸合作打擊犯罪集團的成果，還可供其他政經社文單位參考，如能慎選合作項目幹實事，民眾怎會無感？