The New Taipei District Court ruled late on Saturday night that a Chinese man who attempted to enter Taiwan on a rubber dinghy be detained and held incommunicado for illegal entry into the country.
The court ruled that the man was suspected of contravening the Immigration Act (入出境及移民法), and that he posed a flight risk and might collude with accomplices.
The New Taipei City Fire Department reported the 30-year-old man, surnamed Wang (王), at 6:30am on Saturday, after he was seen near the Houkeng River (後坑溪) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said.
Photo copied by Wu Jen-chieh, Taipei Times
CGA personnel were dispatched to the scene and found Wang in a rubber dinghy about 100m from the shore, the CGA said, adding that they assisted the man to shore and sent him to the hospital, as he was severely dehydrated.
The rubber dinghy was not rowed to Taiwan’s shores, but driven with an outboard motor, the CGA said.
When questioned, Wang was quoted as saying that he was in debt in China and hoped to start a new life in Taiwan.
The CGA said that Wang’s statement matched the identification documents he brought with him and he was transferred to prosecutors for investigation at 8:45pm.
The prosecutors’ office said they suspected Wang had illegally entered Taiwan, and requested the court detain him incommunicado as he posed a flight risk and might collude with accomplices.
Meanwhile, the CGA said the rubber dinghy was relatively small and moved at a slow speed, which made it undetectable by radar.
Radar playback did not reveal anything out of the ordinary either, it said, adding that small targets cannot be detected without infrared thermal imaging equipment.
The CGA said it is working on establishing infrared thermal imaging equipment and other surveillance technologies, enhancing drone capabilities and constructing new types of vessels to improve its detection and monitoring capabilities.
No human error by CGA personnel was involved in the incident, but Taiwan needs to improve its maritime border control, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS