The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday accused China of engaging in “cross-border suppression and political manipulation,” after a Chinese public security bureau alleged that it was Taiwanese citizens who led a smuggling operation involving a Chinese-crewed vessel that damaged subsea cables earlier this year.
In June, a Taiwanese court sentenced the Chinese captain of a Togo-registered ship, the Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號), to three years in jail after finding him guilty of intentionally damaging undersea cables off Taiwan in February, in a case that alarmed officials.
Yesterday, the public security bureau in Weihai in China’s Shandong Province said its investigations into the incident showed that two Taiwanese men were behind a multi-vessel operation that was illegally transporting frozen goods into China. The Chinese authorities’ findings came after interviewing seven Chinese crew members of the Hong Tai 58.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Weihai public security bureau issued a bounty of up to 250,000 yuan (US$35,370) for information or assistance regarding the two Taiwanese, surnamed Chien and Chen, adding that they have been on a Chinese customs office wanted list since 2014.
The MAC rejected the finding in a statement issued yesterday.
“Regarding the incident involving the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai 58 cargo ship, which damaged the third submarine cable between Taiwan and the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu, it was confirmed that the Chinese national captain of the vessel intentionally damaged the undersea cable,” the council said.
“The criminal behavior and related evidence have been clearly established. The case has been thoroughly investigated and concluded by Taiwan’s judicial authorities, and the defendant has been sentenced to three years in prison,” the council said, adding that the defendant is serving their sentence.
“The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] does not have jurisdiction over Taiwan. If the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security has concrete evidence, it can provide that evidence to Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies to cooperate in preventing cross-strait crimes. However, in the absence of concrete evidence, publicly disclosing names and offering rewards is not a civilized approach; it is merely another form of cross-border suppression and political manipulation,” the council said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS