China is still holding in custody at least 223 Taiwanese suspects deported for telecommunication fraud from other countries over the past nine months, the Mainland Affairs Council said on Sunday.

The Taiwanese government is now calling Beijing to uphold its deal with Taipei on joint efforts to curb cross-border telecom scams as well as to maintain cooperation to safeguard the rights and interests of people from both sides, the Taipei Times reported.

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The Chinese government is currently holding the suspects on different detention centers across the mainland, and the Taiwanese government is seeking to bring them back to Taipei to face trial, the China Post reported citing the council.

China, on the other hand, refused to send the suspects and claimed it has the right to try them, defending that although they are Taiwanese, most of their targets were Chinese citizens. Furthermore, Beijing noted the perceived lenience of Taiwan's justice system.

Of the more than 200 suspects, 50 of them were nabbed in Kenya in April and August 2015 and are held at a detention center in Haidian District in Beijing. Last year, Malaysia also expatriated 32 suspects in April and 21 in November. They were detained at two detention centers in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province and Xiangyang in Hubei Province, respectively.

Cambodia also deported 25 suspects in June last year and 13 in September. They are being held in Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province and Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, respectively. At least 78 suspects were also deported from Armenia in September 2015 and are held in two detention centers in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Vietnam is the latest country to exile telecom fraud suspects. It deported four just this month and all are being held captive in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Tagsinternet scam, VoIP, telecom fraud, telecom fraud suspects, Taiwan