A man who was arrested in November last year for attempting to climb onto a China Airlines airplane as it prepared to take off at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has been charged with contravening the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), prosecutors said yesterday.
The man was previously reported to be from Belarus, but prosecutors said that they have yet to ascertain his nationality.
He has not spoken to law enforcement officers since his arrest and remains uncooperative, despite efforts to communicate with him in several languages, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The man had no form of identification on him when he was arrested on Nov. 2 last year while attempting to climb onto the landing gear of the China Airlines aircraft, which was about to depart for Palau, prosecutors said.
In the dramatic incident, the man was spotted darting out of the bushes on the perimeter of the airport and running to the undercarriage of the Boeing 737-800 as it taxied toward the runway for takeoff.
The pilot of an Asiana Airlines airplane, which was behind the China Airlines aircraft, reported seeing the man, who was subdued by airport security, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said.
The man refused to speak to police and had no identification on him, but because a Bible and other books found in his backpack were in Russian, officers called for a Russian interpreter to try to communicate with him.
However, the interpreter, a priest from an Orthodox Church, was also unsuccessful in eliciting any response from the man, prosecutors said.
During the investigation, prosecutors said that the only information they managed to obtain was that the man wanted to go to Palau, which he indicated by means of a drawing.
The man’s case is to be heard by the Taoyuan District Court, prosecutors said.
If found guilty, he could face a maximum of three years in prison and/or a fine of up to NT$90,000, they said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would