Three Syrian nationals have been intercepted at Taoyuan International Airport for carrying forged passports, the National Immigration Agency’s (NIA) Border Affairs Corps said yesterday.
The three passengers, two men and one woman arrived on Friday at Taoyuan International Airport on a Cebu Pacific Air flight from Manila.
They were detained after customs officials detected they were posing as Greek nationals, and were using forged Greek passports, the NIA Border Affairs Corps said.
Following questioning, the three passengers produced their original Syrian passports and told the investigators that they were Kurdish people from Syria, and that they had used fake Greek passports to escape warfare and terrorism by the Islamic State fighters in their home region, NIA officials said.
The passengers told investigators that they bought the forged Greek passports for US$15,000 each from a syndicate in a Middle Eastern nation.
Using air tickets to the Philippines, their plan was to transit through Taiwan on a 10-day stay, then to go on to a European nation as their final destination, the investigators said.
They allegedly told investigators that obtaining a Taiwanese customs stamp approving a short-term stay, would improve their odds of passing European customs officials by making their reason for entry appear more authentic.
NIA officials said that on instruction from the Taoyuan Prosecutors’ Office, the passengers were deported later yesterday on the Cebu Pacific Air return flight back to Manila, Philippines, in accordance with international aviation conventions.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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