Taipei - Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it suspects the disappearance of 152 Vietnamese tourists who entered its territory over the weekend to be linked to "possible human trafficking."

The ministry said it has informed Vietnamese authorities that a local travel agency had reported the 152 Vietnamese nationals missing and that their itineraries had been arranged by a Vietnam-based travel agency.

"We urge Vietnam to actively cooperate with us in order to jointly tackle possible human trafficking and prevent this from happening again," ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told dpa.

Local media speculated that the missing Vietnamese tourists may have entered Taiwan to work illegally.

The 152 Vietnamese nationals entered Taiwan through three ports over the weekend on tourist visas granted under a special tourism programme launched in late 2015.