Palau Confronts Surge in Chinese Organized Crime

TaiwanPlus News

The Pacific island nation of Palau is battling a surge in organized crime involving Chinese nationals. The country's president says it's part of Beijing’s intimidation of the country.

Transcript

00:00An uneasy wait for their long flight home.

00:04These Chinese nationals came to Palau as tourists.

00:07Now they're being deported from this popular island destination

00:11arrested for allegedly running an online scam ring

00:14from a Chinese-owned downtown hotel.

00:17The latest in a slew of organised crime cases here

00:20involving people from China or the PRC.

00:24I would say all of the suspects that were arrested are PRC citizens

00:29and the suspects from the other cases are all PRC citizens.

00:36It appears that PRC is sending their folks over here to Palau

00:43to work in these online scamming centres.

00:51As he begins a second four-year term,

00:53the country's president, Sir Angle Whipps Jr.

00:56is cracking down on organised crime

00:58acting on a list of foreign nationals to expel.

01:01Most on the list are Chinese

01:04suspected of involvement in illegal drugs, money laundering and human trafficking.

01:09Whipps believes it's part of China's attempts to intimidate his country.

01:14Well, we definitely see an uptick in organised crime coming into Palau.

01:19Whether it's the online gaming operations,

01:23we've had a record number of drug busts at the airport

01:27of Chinese nationals bringing in drugs.

01:32These are all issues I think that help weaken us as a nation.

01:38Situated in the Western Pacific

01:40between the Philippines and the US territory of Guam,

01:43Palau says it is no stranger to Chinese tactics.

01:46With China as its biggest investor and source of tourists,

01:50this small island nation has already gone through rounds

01:53of economic incentives and punishments from Beijing,

01:56especially because of its relationship with Taiwan.

02:00With a population of only 18,000,

02:02Palau is one of just 12 countries around the world to officially recognise Taiwan,

02:07a self-ruled democracy that China says is part of its sovereign territory.

02:12High-level Taiwan officials, including the country's president,

02:15have been hosted here,

02:16visits that Beijing has made it clear it's not happy about,

02:20preferring that Palau cut ties with Taipei

02:23and instead establish official diplomatic relations with Beijing.

02:28Over the last few years,

02:29Palau has been hit by suspected Chinese cyber attacks

02:32and regularly records Chinese research vessels

02:35entering its exclusive economic zone.

02:38The Chinese Communist Party rejects allegations

02:41of using organised crime for coercion,

02:43but many see a pattern in this region.

02:46Chinese organised crime is not a stand-alone enterprise

02:49about which the Chinese government knows nothing,

02:52but it very much is part of China's effort to assert itself,

02:58to establish its influence around the region and also around the globe.

03:03Experienced in combating Chinese intimidation,

03:06Taiwan has been helping law enforcement here,

03:09sharing intelligence and lending manpower to investigations,

03:13already leading to arrests of suspected scam ring leaders and money launderers.

03:18Refusing to succumb to pressure,

03:19these two island nations share a common threat,

03:23as well as a determination to decide for themselves

03:26who to be friends with.

03:28Alex Chen and Rick Lowatt in Koror, Palau for Taiwan Plus.

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