Taipei [Taiwan], October 5 : Taiwan has raised concerns over the growing number of its citizens reported missing, detained or subjected to restrictions in China, with the total reaching 453 since January 2024, according to the Mainland Affairs Council’s latest weekly report, as reported by the Taipei Times.
The council said four more Taiwanese were reported missing, taking the number of missing persons to 172. Another 39 Taiwanese have been detained for questioning, while 242 are being held by Chinese authorities, the Taipei Times reported.
The council also received reports of four Taiwanese civil servants being questioned by Chinese authorities. They included a Criminal Investigation Bureau officer, a tax official and a nurse working at a Ministry of Health and Welfare hospital, according to the Taipei Times.
The nurse was reportedly questioned by Chinese state security personnel about a military hospital where she had previously worked. The case was described as the first known instance of a Taiwanese nurse being subjected to such questioning.
Meanwhile, concerns over the fate of missing Taiwanese have also raised questions about possible organ harvesting. A government official familiar with cross-Strait affairs said authorities currently "do not know" whether any missing Taiwanese could have been victims of organ removal, the Taipei Times reported.
The official said the missing individuals had not been located and that no relatives had reported circumstances indicating that organ harvesting had occurred.
The concerns come after prosecutors in Taiwan's Taoyuan District last month indicted seven people over an alleged human trafficking network suspected of attempting to send people to China for organ harvesting. According to the Taipei Times, the suspects allegedly lured people with promises of high-paying jobs.
Three people were reportedly deceived but were not transported out of Taiwan.
According to the reports, the official said such trafficking operations could potentially involve groups conducting organ-removal procedures, requiring cooperation from medical institutions or personnel in China. The official stressed that authorities need to determine whether such activities, if proven, were linked to Chinese Communist Party authorities or criminal organizations.
The official also called for further investigation into whether the alleged trafficking group was involved in other crimes and whether additional Taiwanese citizens may have been targeted.