Experts: Harsh penalties deter fraud

Scammers could get life on the mainland, compared with up to 5 years in Taiwan

Considering the comparatively lighter punishments that convicted telecom swindlers face in Taiwan, repatriating Taiwan suspects to the mainland and trying them according to the mainland's laws will better help in fighting crime and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of people on both sides of the Straits, experts have said.

In Taiwan, people found guilty of conducting telecom fraud face a maximum prison sentence of five years, while the maximum on the mainland is life, said Fan Chongyi, a professor at the Procedural Law Research Institute at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.