China reward notice for Taiwanese nationals a 'political maneuver': Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's government on Wednesday rejected a reward notice issued by Beijing seeking information to arrest two Taiwanese nationals accused of smuggling goods into China, calling the move a "political maneuver."

The two Taiwanese nationals, identified as Chien Wen-sheng (簡文昇) and Chen Shun-chin (陳順進), are accused of smuggling using vessels including the Hong Tai 58, a Chinese-owned cargo ship that a Tainan court found deliberately cut an undersea cable in February.

According to China's state broadcaster CCTV, public security authorities in Weihai, Shandong province, on Wednesday issued a reward notice earlier that day for information leading to the arrest of the two Taiwanese.

The men were described as leaders of a contraband ring that has long controlled several vessels, including the Hong Tai 58, to illegally bring frozen goods into China and have been wanted by the Zhangzhou Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau in Fujian Province since 2014 for smuggling waste into the country, CCTV reported.

The Hong Tai 58, operating under a flag of convenience, was detained by Taiwan's coast guard on Feb. 25 after damaging an undersea cable off Tainan that connects Taiwan proper to Penghu County, and was later escorted to Anping Port in the city.

In June, Tainan District Court sentenced Wang Yuliang (王玉亮), the captain of the ship carrying seven Chinese crew members, to three years in prison.

The ruling marked the first time a Chinese captain was held criminally responsible for such an incident, one of many in recent years that Taiwan has characterized as Beijing's "grey-zone" tactics.

In August, the Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court upheld the ruling following an appeal by prosecutors. Wang has begun serving his sentence.

Wang allowed the ship to drift in the area without anchoring, thus damaging the cable and disrupting communications between Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the court said.

China's reward notice states that the Chinese authorities uncovered a smuggling ring led by Chien and Chen while investigating the seven Hong Tai 58 crew members.

In Taipei, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) issued separate statements, strongly criticizing China's reward notice as a form of "cross-border repression" and "political maneuver."

The MAC said that China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan, and if it possesses any evidence, it could have shared it with Taiwan for the two sides to cooperate on an investigation.

CGA said that the Hong Tai 58 cargo ship's captain and crew members deliberately disabled their Automatic Identification System (AIS) to evade tracking and operated under a Togolese flag of convenience as a cover.

China issued the reward notice as a political maneuver to "confuse issues, divert focus, and heighten cross-strait tensions," according to the CGA, which strongly rejected and condemned the move.