The family of the skipper of the Pingtung-based Chinmingtsai No. 11 trawler, which was detained by Japanese coast guard authorities two days ago for poaching in Japan's exclusive economic zone, are now fretting over how to pay the heavy Japanese fine.
Aid requested
The wife of skipper Chen Teh-liang (
The Chinmingtsai No. 11 and its four-member crew were detained by Japanese coast guard authorities on Saturday on charges of poaching in Japan's 200-mile (320km) exclusive economic zone some 120km east of Miyako Island, Okinawa.
The Japanese coast guard authorities released the detained Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew around 9pm yesterday after Taiwan's representative stationed in Okinawa, Chen Chih-hung (陳桎宏), promised to serve as their guarantor, promising that the skipper will pay the ?2.36 million fine within two weeks.
According Chen Chih-hung, the Chinmingtsai's skipper had confessed to having transgressed into Japan's exclusive economic waters, and under Japanese maritime law, the shipowner must pay a fine of about ?2 million for the ship and crew's release.
Back soon
Chen Teh-liang is expected to sail back to Pingtung aboard the Chinmingtsai today or tomorrow, according to authorities from the Pingtung Fishermen's Association.
The incident came just a few days after some 50 Taiwan fishing boats converged in waters near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China, to protest being frequently chased away from their traditional fishing grounds by Japanese patrol ships.
The unusual move was also aimed at pushing the government to adopt more active measures to protect local fishermen's rights in the two countries' overlapping economic zones.
Taiwanese fishing ships have repeatedly been expelled or detained by Japanese patrol vessels over the past two years after Japan readjusted and expanded its exclusive economic zone to as close as 37km off the coasts of Ilan and Hualien counties.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS