A Taiwanese boat captain who was held captive by Somalian pirates for 18 months returned home late on Tuesday to a warm welcome from his wife, Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel and executives of the company that owned his boat.
“Being back home is like a big weight lifted from the heart,” said Wu Chao-yi (吳朝義), captain of the Shiuh Fu No. 1, a tuna long liner that was hijacked in late 2010. Embracing her husband, Wu’s wife appeared too thrilled to speak.
Wu, from Greater Kaohsiung, said he had not been home in five years.
The fishing vessel was besieged by pirates on Dec. 25, 2010, off the coast of Madagascar and led to Somalia. Wu and the crew — 13 Chinese and 12 Vietnamese — were released on July 17 and taken to Tanzania by a Chinese naval vessel after the fishing boat’s owners negotiated a ransom with the pirates.
“It was like hell,” Wu said of his ordeal. “Almost every day, the 26 of us were fed only two onions and a total of 26 potatoes.”
Wu said he lost 10kg in the 18 months he was held captive.
Speaking about the attack, he said about 20 armed pirates approached on an oil tanker’s speedboat. The pirates boarded the boat, took everything of value, hijacked the boat and then used it to attack other vessels, he said.
He said one time the pirates used his ship to launched an attack on a Denmark-registered freighter.
The Shuih Fu No. 1 later ran aground off the coast of Hobyo, Somalia, he said.
Chang Wen-chun (張文俊), the boat’s owner, continued to pay the crew’s salaries during their captivity, while Kaohsiung City Marine Bureau paid Wu’s family a compensatory sum of NT$4,000 per month.
Chang yesterday said he does not regret spending his cash to save the lives of the Shuih Fu No. 1 crew. However, his company is now on the verge of bankruptcy, with debts piling up, he said.
“I’m in too much pain to say much,” Chang added.
The boat, valued at NT$100 million, is insured, but the insurers have not been willing to pay to tow the grounded vessel back to Taiwan, he said, calling on the fisheries authorities to help.
In response, Fisheries Agency official James Sha (沙志一) said the agency would do its best to help the company once it applies formally for assistance.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS