Chinese Man Sentenced to 8 Months for Entering Taiwan Illegally

TaiwanPlus News

A Chinese man has been sentenced to eight months in prison for crossing illegally to Taiwan in a speed boat – but several others have also made a similar journey from China in recent months, raising security concerns.

Transcript

00:00This man, Ruan Fangyong, says he has no regrets about sneaking into Taiwan on a speedboat

00:05in June. He says he'd been restricted from leaving China for online speech and that he

00:09came for democracy. By the time the Coast Guard caught him, he'd gotten near the mouth

00:14of a river that runs through the heart of Taipei, undetected. A Taipei court has sentenced

00:19him for immigration offenses, which he can still appeal.

00:22As officials discuss whether to deport Ruan, bigger questions about national security

00:39loom in the background. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and Ruan claims he was once the

00:44captain of a Chinese submarine, sparking suggestions the National Security Bureau get involved.

00:50Ruan's case isn't an isolated one. Recent months have seen five Chinese nationals land

00:55illegally on Taiwan's shores, most recently on September 14th, leading to questions about

01:00holes in Taiwan's defenses. The five Chinese nationals say they have a range of reasons

01:05for wanting to start a new life in Taiwan, from a desire for freedom to an escape from

01:09debt. But some are suspicious these are fronts for a Chinese probe of Taiwan's coasts, and

01:14that they really got to Taiwan with military help.

01:30Some analysts recommend high-tech monitoring solutions could make up for a lack of Coast

01:35Guard and other personnel. But with well over 1,000 kilometers of coastline to defend, the

01:40cat-and-mouse game of catching illegal crossers may not be near an end.

01:44Scott Huang and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.

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