Chinese man whose rubber dinghy ran aground off New Taipei indicted

New Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) A Chinese man rescued some 100 meters off the coast of New Taipei last year after purportedly making a nearly five-day open-sea crossing in a rubber dinghy to "seek freedom" has been charged with illegally entering Taiwan.

In its indictment issued on Jan. 9, the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office said that the Chinese man, 32, identified by his surname Wang (王), phoned Taiwan's 119 emergency number after his dinghy ran aground near the Shantou coast in Linkou District around 6 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2024.

After being rescued, Wang told Coast Guard personnel that he had sailed to Taiwan "to seek freedom," prosecutors said.

As Wang admitted to entering Taiwan without legal permission, he was indicted for breaching the Immigration Act and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, prosecutors added.

Prosecutors said that Wang set sail at around 9 a.m. on Sept. 9 from Taizhou in China's Zhejiang Province.

Based on evidence collected from communications devices, Wang is believed to have bought all equipment and the rubber boat from Taobao, including 10 solar charging panels and 10 oil barrels, which he used on his five-day sailing to Taiwan, prosecutors added.

In addition, wind charts were found on Wang's phone as well as internet searches and screenshots of sea and weather conditions across Taiwan on the night of Sept. 8, prosecutors said.

Wang is currently being held incommunicado, according to prosecutors.

Those who enter or exit Taiwan without permission could be given up to five years in prison or fined up to NT$500,000 (US$15,253), in compliance with the Immigration Act.