Taiwan’s government is scrambling to deal with the deportations in the midst of a political transition. Next month, President Ma Ying-jeou, who pursued closer ties with China during his eight years in office, will step down. His successor, Tsai Ing-wen, advocates more caution and public deliberation in cross-strait ties.

Image Foreign Minister David Lin of Taiwan said it was unclear whether Beijing was trying to force the suspects in Malaysia to go to China, but he said the group should be returned to Taiwan. Credit... Ashley Pon/Getty Images

A group of officials from Taiwan will travel to China next week to discuss the deportations, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said Friday.

China’s Ministry of Public Security says the Internet telephone fraud in China has grown drastically, aided by the easy availability of people’s telephone numbers and other private data. And criminals from Taiwan — able to speak Mandarin Chinese, but living beyond China’s harsh criminal justice system — have often been the perpetrators, according to Chinese news reports.

“Telecommunications fraud syndicates led by Taiwanese crime suspects have set up operations in Southeast Asia, Africa and Oceania,” said Xinhua, China’s main state news agency. In recent years, complaints to the Chinese police about such fraud have grown from 20 percent to 30 percent annually, and over half of the losses in such cases went to gangs led by people from Taiwan, said Xinhua, citing official Chinese estimates.

Last year, one such gang swindled a payment manager in a local government office in southwest China and made off with 117 million renminbi, or about $18 million, the report said.