Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Perpetrators carrying out transnational telecommunications fraud originally came from Taichung. The typical pattern of attack is Taiwanese fraudsters relocate to a third country, such as Cambodia, to lure victims living in another country, such as China, to hand over money to local mules in person or deposit it in a local bank or virtual service account.

Initially, these fraudulent activities ran on telecommunications networks that required strong authentication, but since 2006, fraudsters have learned to exploit voice-over IP technology to evade detection and tracking by law enforcement agencies.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday last week passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which aims to counter efforts by China to exclude Taiwan from participating in international organizations. It is a milestone, clarifying Taiwan’s rightful status on the global stage through an allied nation’s legislation.

For decades, China has deliberately misrepresented Resolution 2758 passed by UN General Assembly in 1971, which “[recognizes] that the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations” and “[d]ecides to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.” Beijing has used the resolution as the basis of its “one China” principle to push exclusive recognition of China and to exclude Taiwan from international organizations, such as the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol, to the detriment of global health and security efforts.