Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Taiwan threatened Thursday to implement a second wave of punitive actions against the Philippines, saying that the Southeast Asian country had made an inaccurate statement in explaining its decision to deport 14 Taiwan nationals to China last week.
The Philippines classification of the 14 Taiwanese suspects in a fraud case as "undocumented" was inaccurate because their passports had been confiscated and Taiwan's representative office in Manila had provided the Philippine authorities with new identification documents, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman James Chang said in a press briefing.
"We are considering taking further action against the Philippines if it does not recognize its wrongdoing in the incident," Chang said, but did not specify what measures were being considered.
Furthermore, the case should have been handled based on the Philippines' domestic laws rather than its one-China policy, Chang said.
Philippine Presidential Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said in a radio interview Wednesday that the decision to deport all of the fraud suspects -- 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese -- to China was an observance of the Philippines respect for the "one China policy."
Later in the day, Philippines' Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the government stood by the explanation given by Ochoa.
The row broke out Feb. 2 when the Philippines deported to China the 24 suspects who had been arrested late last year on charges of cross-border fraud against Chinese nationals.
Taiwan, which had been trying to have the 14 Taiwanese in the case repatriated, said the Philippines had acted inappropriately.
The issue escalated during the past week as officials on both sides exchanged tough talk.
Taiwan announced Monday that it would recall its envoy in Manila, tighten visa regulations for Philippine nationals seeking to work in Taiwan and cancel visa privileges for some Philippine citizens.
Philippines Minister of Justice Leila De Lima told Taiwan's representative to Manila Donald Lee that certain actions by the Bureau of Immigration before the deportation were regrettable, according to Chang.
However, Taiwan expects the Philippines to show "more goodwill" to resolve the diplomatic stalemate, Chang said.
Taiwan will continue to plan its moves based on the Philippines' actions, he said. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc