China Places Several Taiwanese Employees Under Investigation On Allegations Of Bribery And Embezzlement

Four Taiwanese employees of Foxconn are under investigation in China on suspicions of accepting bribes and embezzling funds, Focus Taiwan reported.
The news was confirmed by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Friday.

The workers were detained in Zhengzhou, the home of Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory, by the local public security bureau for the equivalent of “breach of trust”, Al Jazeera reported.

TAO spokesperson Zhu Fenglian in the press briefing noted that the relevant authorities were handling the case abiding by the law and simultaneously ensuring the protection of the suspects’ legal rights.

Zhu’s remarks came in response to media reports that the individuals working at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory in China’s Henan province, were detained by Chinese security officials since January this year, Focus Taiwan reported.

China’s Communist Party has time and again declared control over Taiwan whereas, Taiwan views itself as a sovereign democracy.

According to the reports, the Taiwanese employees were accused of accepting bribes in their capacity as non-state officials, with two of them also facing allegations of embezzlement.

However, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the country’s top agency handling cross-strait affairs, said earlier this week that the case was “quite strange.”

The Zhengzhou police arrested and detained the four employees on charges equivalent to Taiwan’s “breach of trust” offence, Taiwan-based Foxconn has asserted that the company has suffered no losses and that the employees have not harmed the company’s interests in any way, the MAC has said previously.

Focus Taiwan reported that Taiwan does not rule out the possibility that the case is connected to corruption and abuse of power by a small number of Chinese security officials. The case has seriously damaged the confidence of companies, the MAC said, urging relevant Chinese authorities to investigate and deal with it as soon as possible.

(With Inputs From ANI)

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