More than 10 Chinese fishing boats were seized by maritime police early yesterday morning off the coast of Putai in western Chiayi County, marking the first such incident along the Chiayi coastline, police said yesterday.
The incident coincided with a smuggling operation bust on Kinmen Island, police said.
The group of Chinese vessels was spotted fishing illegally around 10 nautical miles off the coast of Putai township early yesterday morning.
Defying loudspeaker warnings by maritime police, the boats continued their poaching activities. Police, in four patrol boats, then approached two of the fishing vessels and escorted them to the port at Putai for investigation.
Under the Statute Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, maritime police confiscated the vessels' fishing gear and 450kg of fish that they had caught.
The boats and 22 crew members were expelled after the police investigations were completed.
Chinese fishing boats have in the past been found converging, probably for poaching activities, in waters near the Penghu Islands and off the east coast of Taiwan.
The incident marked the first time that Chinese fishing boats were discovered grouping off the coast of Chiayi County, a spokesman for the maritime police said yesterday.
A huge haul of smuggled Chinese commodities, along with 25 Chinese men and three Taiwan-made motorbikes, were also discovered by Kinmen police on board two Chinese fishing boats yesterday.
Acting on a tip-off, Kinmen maritime police, in cooperation with Kinmen regional police, raided two Chinese fishing boats in waters about half a nautical mile north of Kinmen late Sunday night, uncovering some three tons of contraband peanuts and garlic originating from China, three motorscooters and 25 Chinese illegally working aboard the boats.
The discovery of the illegal workers aboard the two Fujian fishing boats marked the largest number of illegal workers found helping smugglers aboard Chinese fishing boats, Kinmen police sources said, adding that each boat was crewed by four legitimate sailors.
The Chinese discovered aboard the boats -- aged between 17 and 48 -- said they were hired at 50 remninbi a day, mainly to carry smuggled commodities.
Kinmen police arrested the skippers of the two boats, as well as the 25 illegal workers. The police also confiscated the contraband and motorscooters.
Currently in the temporary custody of Kinmen police, the Chinese will probably be sent to a Hsinchu detention center for Chinese caught illegally entering Taiwan,where they will await repatriation, according to police sources.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2