Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) The Philippines did not mention anything about its "one China policy" during Taiwan's negotiations with Philippine officials to bring back 14 Taiwanese suspects, who were eventually deported to China, Taiwan's representative to Manila said Friday.
"The one China policy has never been mentioned during our negotiations with the Philippine authorities, " said Donald Lee, who was recalled by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in protest against the Feb. 2 deportation of 14 Taiwanese who were arrested late last year on charges of cross-border fraud against Chinese nationals.
Several Philippine politicians, including Presidential Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., had said the Southeast Asian country's decision to send all the suspects to China was out of respect for Manila's "one China policy." The comments have drawn criticism from Taiwan's government and lawmakers.
Antonio Basilio, managing director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) -- the Philippines' representative office in Taiwan -- said Thursday that Ochoa's comment was not the position of the Philippine government and the decision was not related to politics and sovereignty.
Lee did not answer a reporter's question if he agreed that the Philippines' decision was not politically-motivated.
The diplomat returned to Taipei Friday morning, five days after Taiwan announced the recall and tighter screening of for Philippine workers who wish to work in Taiwan as retaliatory measures against its southern neighbor, which Taiwan said ignored its demand to send the 14 back to Taiwan.
In a highly-publicized press conference, Lee explained in details what he and his staff had done since the suspects were arrested on Dec. 27 and said that he has asked to be reprimanded by the MOFA because he failed to stop the deportation.
While the Philippine government insisted that it does not need to apologize to Taiwan for the deportation, Lee said Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima did offer an apology on behalf of its Bureau of Immigration which she said had failed to provide correct information about the Taiwanese suspects.
Several of the suspects complained that they had been robbed by the Philippine authority after being arrested and lost their cell phones, cameras and cash, Lee added. (By Chris Wang) enditem/sc