Taiwan Indicts Chinese Man Over Speedboat Incident
Prosecutors have indicted a Chinese man who caused an outcry by sailing a speedboat across the Taiwan Strait to northern Taiwan, charging him with immigration-related offenses. The case has raised doubts about Taiwan’s coastal defenses.
Transcript
00:00We start off in northern Taiwan where prosecutors have indicted a Chinese man who turned up in a speedboat back in June.
00:07The case raised doubts about Taiwan's coastal defenses.
00:11Louise, what is life for us in Taipei with the latest? Louise, what has the man been charged with?
00:20Laurel, prosecutors say they've charged him with entering the country illegally.
00:26They say that he sailed from a port in Fujian province in southeast China all the way to northern Taiwan.
00:33And they say he did so for personal reasons. They didn't say what those personal reasons were.
00:39So there's still a lot of questions around this case.
00:42And if you remember back in June when this case happened, when on one Sunday morning his speedboat turned up at a tourist harbour,
00:52it caused quite an outcry. Firstly, because the Coast Guard didn't stop him until he reached shore.
01:01And also because he'd entered the mouth of the Danzhui River.
01:05Now that leads to Taipei and the presidential office and other government institutions.
01:10And it's long been considered an area vulnerable to a surprise Chinese attack.
01:17Now, it also caused a stir because the man at the time, he was 60 years old.
01:22And reports said that he told investigators he was fleeing persecution in China.
01:28He said he'd written anti-government comments on messaging apps.
01:32But the Coast Guard administration, they very quickly painted him out to be essentially a Chinese spy.
01:40They said that he used to be a captain in the Chinese navy.
01:44And they said he could have been testing Taiwan's defences, its ability to spot smaller vessels.
01:52China, for its part, said the incident was a personal action.
01:57And they said Taiwan's government was politicising it.
02:01So back to today, and prosecutors say they found no crimes related to national security.
02:07But they do say they're still working with police and national security agencies to investigate further.
02:15So maybe more will result from this case.
02:18A case that has been embarrassing for Taiwan because of the questions it's raised about its ability to defend its coasts.