Taiwan seeks two-year prison terms for two Chinese citizens — Taipei Times

Prosecutors in Taiwan’s Shilin District have charged two Chinese citizens with illegal entry after they crossed the Taiwan Strait on an inflatable raft. Prosecutors recommended two-year prison terms for each of them, Taipei Times reports.

Boat found near Taipei Port

The story became known on August 10 following a Threads post by a user. According to the user, a fisherman found an inflatable boat on a beach near Taipei Port in July and initially believed it belonged to another fisherman. The following day, he examined the vessel more closely, found life jackets, Chinese-made fuel containers and rolls of toilet paper bearing inscriptions in simplified Chinese characters, and then notified law enforcement.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard launched an investigation on July 24. On July 30, its officers detained two men surnamed Luan and Yu at Chaoyang Forest Park in Taoyuan. They were transferred to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office, which on August 3 obtained court approval to hold the detainees incommunicado.

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The prosecution’s version

According to the indictment, Luan and Yu left Qingdao in Shandong Province by car on July 19 and later bought an outboard motor for an inflatable raft in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Prosecutors allege that at 4 or 5 a.m. on July 22, the men set off from the coast near Fuzhou in Fujian Province and reached the northern breakwater of Taipei Port at about 2 a.m. on July 23.

According to the prosecution, after illegally entering Taiwan, they visited New Taipei, Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung and Taoyuan. The charges are based on testimony from the accused and witnesses, mobile phone data, surveillance camera footage and DNA analysis results. The men are accused of violating immigration legislation and the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

Prosecutors said the defendants’ actions caused substantial harm to border controls, coastal defense security and public order, and also sparked considerable public concern. After the case became public, the Coast Guard director apologized on August 11. Taipei Times notes that this occurred amid criticism of the agency because its personnel had failed to detect the raft.