Updated

China says it welcomes a Spanish court's decision to grant Beijing's request for the extradition of 121 Taiwanese nationals to China, a decision that has drawn criticism from Taiwan, a self-ruled island.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular briefing Monday that Beijing appreciated Spain's firm support of its "One China" principle, which is Beijing's view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan.

Hua also said the Spanish court's decision Friday was an "important outcome" of the two countries' cooperation in using extradition to crack down on crimes.

The Taiwanese nationals are accused of belonging to Spain-based gangs that swindled people in China out of millions of euros by telephone.