Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a Chinese man who had illegally entered Taichung Harbor on a rubber dinghy in April, claiming to have sailed from China’s east coast in pursuit of “freedom and democracy.”

The 34-year-old man, identified by the surname Zhou (?), was charged for breaking Taiwan’s immigration laws, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and/or a fine of NT$90,000 (US$3,251), Taichung District prosecutors said, citing the Immigration Act.

Zhou is currently being held at the Nantou detention center, which is run by the Central Taiwan Administration Corps under the National Immigration Agency, they said.

On April 30, the Chinese man was picked up by Taichung Harbor police close to midnight, when he was spotted on a dyke in the harbor, according to the indictment released by the Taichung District Prosecutors Office.

During questioning, the man told police that he was yearning for a life of freedom in Taiwan and had set sail at 10:30 a.m. that day from Fujian Province on China’s east coast, on a rubber dinghy fitted with an outboard motor and carrying 90 liters of fuel.

Sailing across the Taiwan Strait, he landed in Taichung Harbor and went ashore at 9:30 p.m. the same day, he said, telling the police that he was not a fugitive with a criminal record, according to the indictment.

According to Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Chiang Cheng-kuo (???), a small vessel like a rubber dinghy could travel undetected for most of the way across the Taiwan Strait, as it would not be picked up on the Taiwan Navy’s land- or ship-based radar.

Closer to the Taiwan coast, however, Coast Guard radar could easily pick up such small boats, Chiang told lawmakers in May, during a legislative hearing on national security.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel