Taiwan says Kenya "forced" its citizens aboard China bound plane

Taiwan has said that Kenyan police used guns and teargas to force 37 of its citizens onto a plan bound for China.

Kenya police used force to put Taiwanese on plane to China- Taiwan https://t.co/6kr98FIVtA pic.twitter.com/AozON0IKtZ

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 12, 2016

This follows the deportation to mainland China of eight other Taiwan citizens on Monday, in which Taiwan accused Beijing of abduction.

The group had been arrested on suspicion of fraud.

“They refused to cooperate, to be deported (to China) and (they) refused to open the door, so police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then over 10 police officers entered with assault rifles. Now the 15 people are still at the police station, refusing to budge,” said Antonio C.S. Chen, chief of the West Asian and African Affairs section of Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

According to media reports, a senior Kenyan official said the people were in Kenya illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from.

However China said on Tuesday that it appreciates Kenya’s respect for supporting its “One- China” policy.

China insists that other countries cannot recognise both China and Taiwan, with the result that Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only a few countries.

Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Kenya.

Reuters, AFP