The government has set itself a target of catching 1,000 illegal immigrants over the next six months, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday at the first meeting of a new task force that has the mission of stemming the flow of illegal Chinese immigrants to Taiwan.
"The task force aims to seize 1,000 to 1,200 illegal immigrants in six months, in addition to tracking down 15 to 25 cases of mass illegal immigration," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
The Cabinet-level task force, dubbed "Hunting Snake," was launched by the Executive Yuan last month to augment the forces combating illegal immigration from China. The government has said that the growing number of Chinese illegal immigrants poses a security risk to Taiwan.
Yu also presided over the inauguration of the campaign at a naval base in Keelung last night.
The task force is headed by Director-General of the Coast Guard Administration Wang Chun (王郡), who reported at yesterday's meeting that the task force had realized its first-phase goal by seizing 322 Chinese illegal immigrants.
It had also ferreted out seven cases of organized human smuggling and prostitution.
The masterminds and their accomplices behind the smuggling of Chinese people to Taiwan are facing harsher punishments, including a minimum five-year jail sentence and a fine of up to NT$10 million, after the Legislative Yuan approved the amended Statute Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) in October.
The government will also confiscate fishing vessels that have been used to transport illegal immigrants, which will deal a double blow to fishermen who collaborate with the smugglers.
To fulfill its goal of wiping out illegal immigration, the task force is offering rewards ranging from NT$3,000 to NT$60,000 to people reporting illegal immigrants.
Wang estimated that there would be more than 3,500 Chinese illegal immigrants detained in Taiwan by the end of year.
"The administration has detained about 3,000 illegal immigrants from China since January," Wang said.
He said he expected a decrease in the number of Chinese illegal immigrants now that the Chinese authorities have joined in the crackdown.
National Police Administration Director General Chang Si-liang (
"The government decided to keep the detained Chinese illegal immigrants outside Taiwan to make their repatriation easier," Chang said.
The government is also planning to build more detention centers on Kinmen and Matsu, Chang said.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS