Chinese police have arrested four employees of Taiwan’s iPhone maker, Foxconn, in what Taipei described as “strange” circumstances.
The workers were arrested in Zhengzhou in Henan province on charges of “breach of trust”, the Taiwan News Council said in a statement.
The BBC has contacted Foxconn for comment.
The company is the main manufacturer of iPhones for the American technology giant Apple and is one of the largest employers in the world, with major production facilities in China.
Taiwanese authorities have suggested the arrests may be a case of “abuse of power” by Chinese police.
And he said the case undermines the confidence of businesses operating in China.
In October last year, China’s tax and land authorities began investigation in the company.
At the time, Foxconn founder Terry Gou was running as an independent in Taiwan’s presidential election.
Taiwan urged its citizens to “avoid non-essential travel” to the mainland and to Hong Kong and Macau after China unveiled guidelines in June outlining criminal penalties for what Beijing described as “Taiwanese independence” separatists.
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou site is the world’s largest iPhone factory, widely known as “iPhone City”.
Despite the long time geopolitical rift between Beijing and Taipei, Foxconn is among many Taiwanese businesses that have set up factories in China.
Beijing sees the island as a renegade province, which will become part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.
But many Taiwanese see themselves as part of a separate nation – although the majority favors maintaining a status quo in which Taiwan can declare independence from China and not join it.
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