The 91st INTERPOL General Assembly will be held from 28 November to 1 December in Vienna, Austria. As globalization has facilitated cross-border flows of people, information, capital, and goods, it has also increased transnational crime, putting all countries and peoples at risk.
It is thus crucial for nations worldwide to work together, provide mutual assistance, and share information to combat transnational crime. Taiwan's bid for meaningful participation as an observer in this event aims to strengthen international cooperation in combating global crimes.
In the wave of developing free economic and trade zones and under the influence of newly developed technologies, the world witnessed the growth of the gaming industry, which has also allowed adjacent sex, gambling, and narcotics industries and organized crime to flourish. In addition, with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, criminal syndicates diversified into other illegal activities such as telecommunications and internet fraud.
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 worldwide, 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 to coerce them into aiding the syndicates' many illegal activities, including transnational fraud, the laundering of cryptocurrencies, and drug and human trafficking.
Reports to INTERPOL by Taiwan's police authorities 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 more Taiwanese people from being coerced into fraudulent activities.
However, when China applied for accession to INTERPOL in 1984, it attached conditions that contradicted the spirit of the Constitution of the ICPO-INTERPOL. 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.
Criminal investigation is a battle of wits and brawn and a race against time. However, Taiwan can only access vital intelligence indirectly due to its exclusion from INTERPOL. Much of the information obtained this way is already outdated when it is received. This disconcerting situation allows transnational crime to flourish and cause the world even heavier damage, wasting much time and effort and with nothing to show for in return.
While Taiwan is willing to work with the Philippines to crack down on the aforementioned cases, the Taiwan police also wish to join meaningfully and equally in INTERPOL mechanisms in various ways. Taiwan's police authorities remain determined to resolve law and order issues, minimize loss of life and property and harm people's well-being.
To ensure a seamless global security network, we ask our Filipino brothers and sisters to support Taiwan's participation as an observer in the 91st INTERPOL General Assembly to be held in Vienna, Austria, as well as Taiwan's meaningful engagement in INTERPOL meetings, mechanisms, and activities, including access to the I-24/7 global police communications system and INTERPOL training programs.
(Wallace Minn-Gan Chow is a Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines.)