Deportation of Taiwanese women

In response to the news story about the deportation of 11 alleged "Taiwanese" women, published in The Jakarta Post on July 15, the Taipei Economic and Trade Office would like to clarify some key points.

According to the office's investigation, 10 of the passports held by the 11 women have been reported missing by the original owners. The remaining passport has already expired. Furthermore, the birth dates on four of the passports have been tampered with.

In fact, the office has been informed by various sources that these 11 women were probably citizens of a third country carrying altered passports from the Republic of China. Therefore, this office is obliged to have the matter clarified and, most important of all, to preserve the reputation of Taiwanese women.

Last but not least, R.O.C. passports issued on and after Jan. 1, 1995, are all machine readable passports which are not subject to tampering. Issuing the new-style passports is one of the R.O.C. government's steps to prevent the document being used for illegal purpose.

The case involving the 11 women is an incident rarely seen in the last few years.

Information Division

Taipei Economic and

Trade Office, Jakarta