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.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS