TAIPEI — Taiwan prosecutors have indicted two Chinese men accused of illegally entering Taiwan by rubber dinghy and requested two-year prison sentences for each, after investigators said the pair spent nearly a week moving between several cities before they were arrested.
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The men, identified by their surnames Luan, 35, and Yu, 44, allegedly departed from Fuzhou, China, on July 22 and reached the northern Taiwan coast roughly 21 hours later. Prosecutors say they landed near Taipei Port in New Taipei City’s Bali District early on July 23.
The case has drawn additional attention because the landing occurred about two weeks before Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military exercises, although prosecutors’ charges concern unauthorized entry rather than publicly establishing a military purpose for the trip.
A 21-Hour Sea Journey Ended on Taiwan’s Northern Coast
According to the investigation, the two men traveled from Shandong to Fujian before beginning the sea crossing.
Prosecutors said they left Fuzhou in a rubber boat fitted with an outboard motor and spent about 21 hours at sea before reaching the northern Taiwan coast. After arriving, they allegedly abandoned the boat and traveled through several parts of northern and central Taiwan.
The men were eventually detained on July 30, meaning they remained undetected for roughly a week after landing.
Taiwan News reported that their route included Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Taichung. Taiwanese reporting has also described stops across five administrative areas, including New Taipei.
An Abandoned Boat Triggered the Investigation
The unusual journey might not have immediately attracted attention had a fisherman not discovered the abandoned dinghy.
On July 24, a fisherman found the boat on a beach in Bali District. Investigators found items including products bearing simplified Chinese characters and several life jackets.
The discovery prompted authorities to review surveillance footage and investigate how the vessel had reached Taiwan. The Coast Guard eventually traced the two men and arrested them in a park in Taoyuan on July 30.
Investigators also used forensic evidence from the boat and its contents. Taiwanese reports said DNA testing linked the biological evidence to the two suspects, helping establish that they had traveled on the vessel.
Coast Guard Previously Acknowledged a Detection Error
The case had already raised questions about Taiwan’s coastal surveillance.
Earlier reporting by CNA and other Taiwanese outlets said the Coast Guard acknowledged that the vessel had not been intercepted during its approach because an operator had mistakenly classified the radar signal as a “false echo.” The Coast Guard said the error was human and that responsibility would be investigated.
The South China Morning Post reported in August that the incident prompted fresh scrutiny of Taiwan’s coastal security after the boat reached shore without being intercepted.
That issue is separate from the criminal case against the two men: the prosecutors’ current action concerns their alleged unauthorized entry into Taiwan.
Prosecutors Say the Men Broke Taiwan Entry Laws
The Shilin District Prosecutors Office charged the pair under Taiwan’s Immigration Act and the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, according to the Taiwan News report and Taiwanese media coverage.
Prosecutors said the evidence included the suspects’ statements, witness accounts, surveillance footage, mobile-phone data, photographs and forensic testing.
They are asking the court to impose two years in prison on each defendant. Prosecutors have also requested confiscation of the rubber dinghy, outboard motor and a mobile phone seized during the investigation.
The requested sentence is not a final judgment. The court will determine whether the men are guilty and what penalties, if any, they ultimately receive.
The Men Denied Having Local Contacts
According to prosecutors, the two men said they had been sleeping in parks or outdoors and had not been in contact with people in Taiwan.
Their backgrounds were also identified during the investigation. Taiwan News reported that Luan is from Qingdao in Shandong Province, while Yu is from Urumqi in Xinjiang.
Authorities have not publicly established a military or espionage purpose for their journey in the prosecution described in the latest reports. The charges announced Thursday center on unauthorized entry.
Why the Case Has Drawn Wider Attention
The incident has become notable because it combined an unauthorized maritime entry, a lengthy period in which the two men were not detected, and questions about Taiwan’s coastal monitoring.
It also occurred shortly before the Han Kuang military exercises, a timing that has attracted attention in security reporting. The South China Morning Post previously reported that the incident prompted debate over whether the boat’s passage exposed vulnerabilities in Taiwan’s coastal surveillance.
The latest development, however, is legal rather than a new security assessment: prosecutors have completed their investigation and formally brought charges.
The case now moves to court, where the evidence surrounding the July landing and the two men’s movements across Taiwan will be examined before any final judgment is issued.
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
