Taipei: A total of 402 Taiwanese have been reported missing, questioned, or detained in China since the beginning of 2024, with fraud accounting for 62 percent of the detention cases, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday. Speaking at a legislative session, MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng revealed figures covering the period from Jan. 1, 2024, to July 22 this year, showing that 154 Taiwanese had been reported missing in China, 32 had been held for questioning, and 216 had been detained.
According to Focus Taiwan, of those detained, 134 were linked to fraud cases, 58 to other criminal cases, 23 to religious activities, and one to a national security case, Chiu said. He clarified that the statistics were not intended to convey an "anti-China" political message but to make the public aware of the risks involved in traveling there. Chiu also called on Beijing to use existing cross-strait mechanisms to ensure the safety of Taiwanese nationals.
Chiu emphasized the importance of the 2009 Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, which requires each side to promptly notify the other when a person from the other side is deprived of personal liberty. Despite the agreement remaining formally in place, Taiwan has repeatedly stated that Beijing has failed to respond to requests for information or assistance submitted through the mechanism, particularly in politically sensitive cases.
During the session, opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Liao Hsien-hsiang challenged MAC for portraying travel to China as "dangerous." He accused the agency of promoting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's ideology rather than fulfilling its official duties. Liao questioned the decision to count Taiwanese detained for fraud or other criminal offenses as having encountered "travel risks," arguing that such cases involved clear violations of local laws rather than political activity.
Chiu did not directly address Liao's criticism of including fraud cases in the statistics but noted that some of the 58 other criminal cases could involve China's national security laws or other broadly applied criminal provisions. All 23 cases involving religious activities were prosecuted under Article 300 of China's Criminal Law, which criminalizes organizing or using groups classified by Beijing as "cult organizations" to undermine state laws and regulations. MAC has previously warned I-Kuan Tao practitioners against traveling to China for religious activities due to detentions under this provision.
Liao also highlighted that Taiwanese visits to China increased from about 2.77 million in 2024 to 3.23 million in 2025 despite the government's warnings. Addressing the increase, Chiu noted that annual visits had exceeded 6 million during periods of relative calm in cross-strait relations. The figure of 3.23 million indicated that many Taiwanese people still have concerns about traveling to China.