Taipei, April 27 CNA A total of 26 foreign women have been arrested on suspicion of engaging in prostitution in Taipei's Wanhua District since April 12 when the authorities began a campaign to crack down on the illegal sex industry, police said Saturday. The 26 women include 10 Chinese, five Vietnamese, four Thai nationals and other foreigners, all of whom arrived on a tourist visa, according to the Taipei City Police Department's Wanhua Precinct.
The arrests came after police decided to step up their investigation due to a recent influx of foreign women entering Taiwan as visitors and engaging in prostitution. Most of them have stayed in Wanhua District, where prostitution still thrives despite being outlawed many years ago, police said. In March this year, police busted a prostitution ring in a hotel on Hankou Street in Wanhua District and arrested 28 people, including 18 Thai nationals who had entered Taiwan as tourists, the precinct said.
To further clamp down on escort agencies and prostitution rings, the police carried out a comprehensive sweep early Saturday on Kangding Road near the Wanhua railway station. During the raid, the police said, no one was arrested, but all of the suspected prostitutes were asked to leave the premises.
According to the police, any foreign nationals who come to Taiwan on a tourist visa to engage in prostitution will be punished under the law for violating the Social Order Maintenance Act. They will be referred to the National Immigration Agency and deported, the police said. Wanhua District is one of the oldest districts of Taipei City. Police said none of the recently arrested foreign women entered Taiwan under the government's Kuan Hung program, which allows for an expedited visa approval process to attract more Southeast Asian tourists to Taiwan.
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