Guest Commentary
Chou Yew-woei
Commissioner
Criminal Investigation Bureau, Taiwan

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs because of the lockdowns and have been desperately looking for financial support. So if a tempting job opportunity came knocking, it would naturally be hard to resist. The harsh reality for those travelling overseas for work, however, is that they risk falling victim to human trafficking, a new form of transnational crime that is preying on people around the world.

Fraud is a crime with a long history. In modern times, with the advancement of information and communications technology, this age-old crime is gaining new dimensions and posing an incalculable threat to global security. As INTERPOL Secretary-General Jürgen Stock has said, the need for solid international police cooperation is more vital than ever to deal with new forms of transnational crime such as human trafficking and fraud. Criminal organizations are now operating under highly organized corporate-style models that are based on sophisticated divisions of labor, information exchange, peer learning, and collusion and complicity. To combat transnational crime, law enforcement officers from around the world must unite and come together. Taiwan’s police authorities are taking the initiative of engaging with their counterparts around the world to fight crime. They aim to close the gap in the global security network and work toward a safer world.

As the world’s 21st-largest economy and 17th-largest exporter, Taiwan serves as a pivotal link between Northeast and Southeast Asia and as a hub for the flow of people, goods, and capital.

Given the escalating risks caused by new types of transnational crime, Taiwan is continuing to surmount its own outstanding track record of public security. By participating in INTERPOL and working in collaboration with global police authorities, we can all fight transnational crime together.

For political reasons, Taiwan has been unable to participate in INTERPOL for over 39 years. Yet at the same time, as transnational crime flourishes in this era of globalization, Taiwanese passports, which enjoy visa-free access to 145 countries and territories, have become prime targets for transnational criminals. This is a threat that should not be underestimated.

Taiwan’s capacity to carry out border security checks and combat transnational crimes such as terrorism and human trafficking is severely hampered by its lack of access to real-time criminal intelligence shared through INTERPOL’s I-24/7 system and its stolen and lost travel documents database. Taiwan’s long-standing exclusion from INTERPOL means that vital exchanges of intelligence are often out of date and incorrect. And Taiwan’s inability to participate in associated INTERPOL meetings, activities, and training has created a significant gap in the global security and antiterrorism network.

In 2022, Taiwan’s police authorities uncovered a shocking new type of human trafficking occurring in Cambodia and Myanmar. Operating under highly organized corporate models, crime syndicates had used online platforms to recruit people from all over the world, promising overseas job opportunities as bait. In reality, victims were held captive, forced to work in scam call centers, and subjected to such inhumane treatment as electric shocks, beating, drugging, and sexual violence in order to coerce them into aiding the syndicates’ many illegal activities, including transnational fraud, the laundering of cryptocurrencies, and drug and human trafficking.

Reports by Taiwan’s police authorities to INTERPOL were to no avail. Instead, Taiwan had to rely on police forces in friendly countries to pass on intelligence and cooperate in investigations. Taiwan also mobilized a national cross-government antifraud team to carry out preventative, deterrence, rescue, and investigative operations and stop any more Taiwanese people from being coerced into fraudulent activities. As of July 2023, 478 victims had been successfully rescued.

Information shared by Taiwan has aroused international attention, and friendly police forces in Canada, Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and elsewhere are now aware of this new type of crime, whose victims have hailed from a wide range of nations. Only by combining international resources and conducting cooperative investigations can laws be enforced and can this global security issue be addressed.

When China applied for accession to INTERPOL in 1984, it attached conditions that contravened the spirit of the INTERPOL Constitution. China took over Taiwan’s membership rights and status and constantly cited so-called “political issues” to ensure that INTERPOL excluded Taiwan from substantive participation in the organization, creating a breach in crime prevention and intelligence sharing. This has also made Taiwan’s efforts to fight transnational crime and make the world a better place all the more difficult.

I ask everyone to support Taiwan’s participation in INTERPOL’s annual General Assembly as an observer. This would allow Taiwan’s police authorities to participate in various activities, meetings, and training, interact with other countries, and address the deficiency in transnational crime intelligence exchange. This is not a political issue. Global security concerns us all. Let Taiwan and INTERPOL work together.