8-month sentence upheld for Chinese speedboat man

Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an eight-month sentence handed down to a Chinese national who drove a speedboat into the Tamsui River for violating Taiwan's immigration law.

The court dismissed the man's appeal, after a previous appeal was dismissed by the Taiwan High Court in December 2024, making the ruling final.

The man, identified as Ruan Fangyong (阮芳勇), left the Chinese coast off Fujian province in a speedboat at around 10 p.m. on June 8, 2024 and arrived at one of the piers in the Tamsui River not far from Tamsui Old Street at 10:19 a.m. the next day, according to court papers.

The small boat that Ruan was navigating had been monitored by Taiwan's Coast Guard after it received a report that the speedboat collided with a local ferry, the documents said.

Ruan then went ashore and told Coast Guard officers who came to apprehend him that he wanted to surrender, and said he had escaped from China and came to Taiwan for democracy, the court said.

He was then arrested by the Coast Guard and detained by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) while his case was investigated by prosecutors.

Ruan was indicted by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office for violating immigration laws in August 2024.

The Shilin District Court in September ruled that the man was guilty of entering Taiwan without permission, but also argued that he should be handed a lenient sentence for surrendering himself to the authorities, and gave him an eight-month sentence.

On Dec. 20, the High Court dismissed his appeal, finding no fault with the lower court's sentence.

According to the law, Ruan could be simply deported for entering Taiwan without permission.

But after the district court's ruling, the NIA was cited by local media as saying that once the verdict was finalized, Ruan would be deported if was not sentenced to jail time, indicating he will likely have to serve time for the offense.