The Taiwanese cargo ship Shin Hwa (新華輪) and most of her crew were released yesterday after being detained in China for four months on smuggling charges.
However, while Chinese prosecutors are not pressing charges because of a lack of evidence, ship captain Kuo Tai-sheng (
The ship made port on the island of Matsu around noon yesterday in the company of National Assembly deputy Tsao Yuan-chang (
The ship was detained by the Chinese coast guard in waters off Matsu on July 31 and taken to Fuzhou in Fujian province for an investigation.
The quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which handles cross-strait affairs in the absence of official ties, requested its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), to help with the speedy release of the crew members, but the association did not respond.
ARATS has held back a planned Taiwan visit by its chairman and has frozen contacts with SEF since Taiwan defined cross-strait ties as "special relations between two states."
Hsu Chun-ta (
In mid-October, China said that no indictment would be brought against the crew members, but that they would suffer some "administrative penalties." On Monday, China notified the politicians that eight crew members would be released.
Jan Jyh-horng (
"China has so far not given us any reason for their detention," Jan said.
Tsao said he had been told by Fuzhou customs officials that the two people cannot be released for the time being because there are still some "details" to investigate.
Officials in China did not say what the "details" were or for how long they will be detained, Tsao said.
"I think the entire matter is of less legal concern than of politics," Tsao said.
Legislator Chao, who also went to receive the released crewmen in Matsu yesterday, said it is "very ridiculous" and unreasonable for China to delay the release of the other two now that legal procedures are complete.
"Now that the ship and crew have been sent back, what is left to investigate?" Chao asked.
By crossing the middle line of the Taiwan Strait and violating Taiwan's territorial waters to apprehend the ship in the first place, Chao said China had violated a tacit cross-strait agreement to stay clear of each other's territorial waters.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
RSS