Taiwan Coast Guard Northern Branch announced that on the 16th, they received a report that two Chinese nationals had landed on the left side beach of Guanyin Sea Bathing Beach in Taoyuan, using a rubber boat and were subsequently arrested. The possibility of it being related to gray area infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party is not ruled out. Following the interrogation by Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, the father surnamed Song was detained, while his son was transferred to the Special Operations Team of the Coast Guard under the supervision of a judge.
According to Tran Jen-yung, Deputy Chief of the Taiwan Coast Guard Northern Branch, on the morning of the 16th at 8:07 am, the 8th Coast Guard Unit received a report that two Chinese nationals claimed to have landed on the beach using a rubber boat at Guanyin Sea Bathing Beach in Taoyuan. The Northern Branch immediately conducted a search along the shore and found one rubber boat. Radar playback did not reveal any unidentified targets. The case was reported promptly to the prosecution for command and investigation, and further investigation was conducted into the suspects’ motives for coming to Taiwan.
“From January to the present, there have been a total of 5 smuggling cases involving 38 people, with 4 cases and 36 individuals being intercepted on the spot. The case detection rate is 80% and the personnel interception rate reaches 94.7%,” Tran Jen-yung said.
Tran Jen-yung pointed out that the rubber boat involved in this case is only 3.3 meters long, making it difficult to detect with radar. He also mentioned that recently, China has been continuously testing Taiwan’s reactions through various means, even using small targets during military exercises for smuggling attempts, indicating a possible gray area infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party.
Regarding the budget, the Taiwan Coast Guard is currently striving to enhance its coastal surveillance system equipment such as infrared thermal imaging cameras, increase the capabilities of its vessels, and improve its intelligence gathering abilities. These efforts are aimed at strengthening national defense resilience to ensure national security and social stability.
According to the Central News Agency, the two individuals, father surnamed Song, aged 41, and his 17-year-old son, traveled from Fujian to Taiwan together on the rubber boat. Song claimed to have faced persecution in China, which prompted him to seek refuge in Taiwan for freedom. However, the exact motive for their arrival in Taiwan is still under investigation.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office stated to the media that the Chinese defendants are suspected of violating Article 74, paragraph 1, of Taiwan’s Immigration and Emigration Act by entering Taiwan without permission from Mainland China. After the interrogation by the prosecutor, they applied for detention from the court for the father; while the underage Chinese defendant was transferred to the juvenile court by the referring authority.
The Taoyuan District Court mentioned that Song is scheduled for interrogation on the 17th, and although the juvenile’s suspicion of violating the law is significant, the judge believed that since the juvenile resides with his father and might not have had a choice in this matter, taking into account the development of the juvenile’s mind and body and the circumstances of the case, there was no need for detention. Therefore, the Coast Guard was instructed to transfer the case to the Special Operations Team of the Immigration Bureau in Taoyuan City.