The captain of a Taiwanese fishing vessel detained by Chinese authorities for more than four months was released on Friday after paying a fine, bringing an end to the incident caused by illegal fishing.
The captain, surnamed Hung (洪), and his vessel, the Da Jin Man No. 88, were released after negotiations, which included Chen Yu-Jen (陳毓 仁), speaker of the Penghu County Council, and Chen Shuang-chuan (陳雙全), former deputy speaker of the council, helping to arrange the payment of a fine of more than 210,000 yuan (US$29,035) earlier on the same day.
At about 2pm, Hung and the vessel were sent to the median line of the Taiwan Strait, where the Da Jin Man No. 8 fishing boat, part of the same fleet as the Da Jin Man No. 88, escorted them back to Penghu County after four other detained crew members, who were also released that day, joined the vessel.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The Da Jin Man No. 88 and Hung arrived at Penghu County’s Jhuwan Harbor (竹灣漁港) late on Friday evening.
The Penghu-registered fishing vessel was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard officials northeast of Liaoluo Bay 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) outside of Taiwan-controlled “restricted waters” off Kinmen on July 2, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said.
The vessel, along with Hung and the four crew members, were detained by Chinese authorities for illegally fishing in Chinese territorial waters during a seasonal moratorium, the CGA said.
The four crew members — one Taiwanese and three Indonesians — were released in August as they were involved in only minor contraventions and therefore did not face criminal charges, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said.
However, Chen Shuang-chuan, chairman of the Penghu cross-strait exchange association, said the legal issues involving Hung and the fishing boat needed to be resolved before they could be released.
Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) on Friday said that Hung’s family and the owner of the Da Jin Man No. 88 had been waiting for their release for a long time.
Cross-strait technical disputes should be handled according to agreements signed between the two sides to safeguard the well-being and rights of people in Taiwan and China, Luo said.
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