China is battling an explosion of telecom fraud that has cost billions of dollars in financial losses and driven some victims to suicide. Official data shows boiler rooms run by scammers from Taiwan are responsible for more than 50 percent of telecom frauds on the Chinese Mainland. 
 
A belated confession. 27-year-old Liu Tai-ting was one of the suspects deported from Kenya to Beijing on April 13th. He confessed to police that he went to Kenya, not for vacation, but to conduct telecom fraud.

Liu confirmed he sent more than 10,000 illicit messages per day, earning more than 240,000 Taiwan dollars -- or nearly $7,500 -- in the process.

Earlier this month, 45 fraud suspects from Taiwan were deported by Kenya to Beijing, out of a total 77.

China is battling an explosion of telecom fraud. Media says some 10 billion yuan flows to Taiwan from the Mainland every year.

Only some 200 thousand yuan has been recovered. This has caused friction between the two sides.

The differences between the two legal systems have also added fuel to the fire. On April 16th, Taiwan released 20 telecom fraud suspects deported by Malaysia, citing a lack of evidence, but later took them back into custody.

"(The suspects) specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland and (their) victims are from the mainland. Not to mention that many of the suspects are themselves from the mainland. We will investigate, prosecute and try this criminal gang in accordance with mainland law," Chen Shiqu with Chinese Ministry of Public Security said.

Last Thursday working groups from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland met and discussed cooperation in cracking down on telecom fraud.

The Taiwan delegation's top priority is to resolve this case.

"For the case that's already happened, we are hoping we can advance a joint investigation, and cooperation over how work is divided up and managed. To prepare for future possible cases like this, we hope to set up a reasonable, routine mechanism," Chen Wen-Chi, head of Taiwan Delegation, said.

April 26th will mark the 7th anniversary of the signing of the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement.

Since that agreement was signed, achievements have been made thanks to the efforts of law enforcement departments on both sides. But problems remain.

Both sides are calling for sticking to the facts and remaining calm, as ultimately the common goal is to prevent such acts of fraud from happening again.