Taiwan is known for its low crime rates, partly due to the high standards of our law enforcement. Taiwan’s National Police Agency has much expertise to contribute to the fight against transnational crime, having effectively tackled issues ranging from fraudulent phone scams to terrorism. According to the Taiwanese police commissioner, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issued a report under its anti-piracy initiative citing Taiwan’s efforts against illegal Olympic broadcasts. Interpol later requested Taiwan officials to share insights on how to combat digital piracy.

The irony is that Interpol has consistently barred Taiwan from participating in its organization’s activities. Taiwan’s police agencies are excluded from fully contributing to or benefiting from Interpol, which also creates a considerable gap in Interpol’s own objective of fighting transnational crime.

Taiwan’s inability to access Interpol’s I-24/7 database keeps Interpol’s member countries from having timely access to Taiwan’s own criminal intelligence. It also keeps Taiwan’s police with one hand tied behind their back, as was made evident in 2022 when Taiwanese law enforcement discovered a human trafficking scheme unfolding in Cambodia and Myanmar. Victims from all over the world, including an estimated 5,000 from Taiwan alone, had traveled to Cambodia and Myanmar, lured by false promises of lucrative employment. But upon arrival, they were instead held against their will and subjected not only to harsh, forced labor but also extensive abuse and violence.

Unfortunately, Taiwan was not allowed to collaborate with Interpol or make use of Interpol’s extensive resources. Taiwan’s law enforcement instead had to cooperate indirectly with separate countries, which needlessly and frustratingly slowed down the process of justice.

Taiwan has made the most of this unfortunate reality. We have proven ourselves to be reliable partners to the world in tackling organized crime syndicates. In 2020, Taiwanese and Montenegrin law enforcement worked together to take down fraudulent phone scam operations. Earlier this year, our police worked with U.S., South Korean, and other international police forces to bust a Taiwanese drug syndicate, from which thirteen arrests were made.

Taiwan clearly has much to offer Interpol. The only reason we continue to be excluded is politics.

Ever since Taiwan lost its decades-long status as an Interpol member in 1984, when the organization switched its recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China, our law enforcement agency has been barred from participation. In 2022, a high-level Interpol official claimed that China’s status as an Interpol member impedes Taiwan from being granted observer status in the organization’s General Assembly.

This is, again, an unfortunate but familiar story for Taiwan. As with other international organizations, Beijing’s undue influence regrettably keeps Taiwan on the outside looking in. Often, Taiwan’s exclusion results from the PRC’s bogus claim that UN General Resolution 2758—a document that doesn’t mention Taiwan or its official name, the Republic of China, even once—endorses its false assertions of sovereignty over Taiwan. Through this intentional misrepresentation of the resolution, China has prevented Taiwan’s participation in international organizations like the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization. They have similarly moved to deny Taiwan access to Interpol.

Only a democratically elected government has the right to represent the 23 million people of Taiwan on the world stage. When those voices are silenced, everyone suffers—not just Taiwan.

We cannot afford to let politics get in the way of countering global crime any longer. Taiwan’s police have proven to be reliable law enforcement partners with much expertise to offer the world. Yet Taiwan’s exclusion from Interpol and its database continues to create real-time gaps in global criminal intelligence, allowing cracks for international outlaws to slip through. This is an unconscionable risk to take. It is time for Interpol to incorporate Taiwan into its intelligence-sharing network so that international criminal activity can be kept at bay more efficiently.

Alexander Tah-Ray Yui is the Taiwan government’s representative to the United States.

Image: Shutterstock.com.