A Chinese man who entered Taiwan illegally with his son on an inflatable boat in May was sentenced yesterday to eight months in prison.
Song Yuankun (宋元坤), 41, "severely undermined Taiwan’s national security and border integrity," the Taoyuan District Court said in its ruling, citing Taiwan’s Immigration Act.
He was arrested in Taiwan on May 16, one day after he and his 17-year-old son landed at beach in Taoyuan on an inflatable boat they had bought online on a Chinese shopping site, according to the indictment.
Photo: Yu Jui-jen, Taipei Times
The father and son entered Taiwan at about 5:30 pm on May 15 near the Guantang LNG Terminal in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), the indictment said.
After they landed, they went to an ATM and used a UnionPay card to withdraw cash, which they used to buy dinner, but they soon ran out of money and turned themselves in to authorities at around 8 am the following day, the indictment said.
Song had been working as laborer in China’s Yunnan Province, while his son was a hairdresser, according to the indictment.
After his arrest, Song told the authorities that he saw Taiwan as a "prosperous" place, and wanted his son to study here.
Song was sentenced to eight months in prison, while his 17-year-old son is being held in the Taipei Detention Center, pending deportation, according to the court ruling yesterday, which can still be appealed.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS