A foreign national who was arrested on Saturday after trying to climb on a China Airlines (CAL) plane preparing to take off at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport continued to remain silent while being questioned by prosecutors yesterday.
The man was previously reported to be from Belarus, but prosecutors yesterday said they have yet to ascertain his nationality.
After spending the night at the airport’s immigration detention center, the suspect was sent to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Sunday morning, and charged with trespassing in the airport’s restricted area, in violation of the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法).
Photo: CNA
The suspect has not spoken a word since his arrest at around 2pm on Saturday, despite immigration officers trying to communicate with him in different languages.
He did not have any form of identification on him when he was arrested, but police found a notebook written in Russian and a Bible in the two backpacks he had with him when he was arrested.
When approached by a Russian interpreter, the suspect continued to remain silent. Immigration officers have found no records of the man entering Taiwan, and they believe he may have been smuggled in.
If that is the case, he could face a maximum three-year prison term or a NT$90,000 fine for violating the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), police said.
The dramatic incident was first noticed by a pilot of an Asiana Airlines flight that was waiting behind CAL flight CI028 to Palau, as the latter was taxiing toward the runway for takeoff, according to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co (TIAC).
The man was spotted darting out from bushes on airport grounds and then trying to climb onto the landing gear of the Boeing 737-800 jet at 1:55pm on Saturday, but he was later overpowered by airport security. The CAL flight, originally scheduled to depart at 1:35pm, was delayed.
It was the first time such an intrusion has taken place at Taiwan’s largest airport.
There was speculation that the man could have gotten into the area from the construction site of Terminal 3, but local authorities have yet to reach any conclusions about how the incident happened.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS