The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had detained two Chinese men on makeshift rafts who attempted to enter Kinmen County’s Erdan Island (二膽) earlier in the day.
The CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu branch detected the two Chinese nationals with its thermal imaging system in waters southwest of the Lieyu islands at 5:08am, the CGA said in a statement.
The two were floating on polystyrene boards launched from a sampan in an attempt to get to Erdan Island, which is about 5km from China’s Xiamen, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The branch immediately dispatched two patrol vessels to the scene and requested the assistance of the Lieyu Garrison Command in pursuing the men, who were apprehended at 7:53am, the CGA said.
The suspects would be dealt with according to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) and the Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area ((臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the CGA said, adding that they face detention, a maximum prison term of five years and a fine of up to NT$500,000.
The incident comes as authorities investigate two videos uploaded by a Chinese man who claimed to have sailed solo to Taiwan in a rubber dinghy.
In one video, the man, speaking in a Chinese accent, brags that he had planted China’s national flag on Taiwan’s soil.
The CGA said there has recently been a marked increase in the number of cases involving small targets intruding into Taiwan-controlled waters and that such cases are now the focus of its work to counter “gray zone” activities, provocative or aggressive actions that fall short of open conflict.
In the wake of these threats, it has completed deployments for stopping small-scale intrusions at the nation’s maritime borders, the CGA said.
The CGA added that it could not rule out the possibility that Tuesday’s incident was timed to coincide with the first anniversary of President William Lai (賴清德) assuming office to rattle the Taiwanese public.
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