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.
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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.