The number of incursions into Taiwanese waters by Chinese dredgers last year was 54 times greater than three years ago, a report from the National Audit Office shows.
Last year, there were 3,974 incursions into Taiwanese waters by dredgers compared with 73 in 2018, with 86 percent of the incidents having occurred in Penghu County, the report shows.
The dredgers come to steal sand and fish from near the county’s coastlines, an activity that is difficult to control given that Chinese authorities ignore requests from the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to investigate or stop the dredging, a source said on Tuesday.
The Legislative Yuan last year passed an amendment that increased the maximum prison sentence for dredging to seven years, and raised the maximum fine to NT$100 million (US$3.58 million), but whether the new terms would be an effective deterrent remains unknown, the source said.
The CGA has also commissioned National Taiwan Ocean University to research methods to deal with the incursions.
The research project was conducted from February to December last year at a cost of NT$748,571, the source said.
The researchers suggested a varied approach, including the confiscation of boats, an information campaign and legislative amendments to increase penalties, among other ideas, the source said.
The CGA has said that it would be most effective for China to assist with investigation and prosecution of the boat operators in line with Taiwan and China’s agreement on law enforcement.
However, the current state of cross-strait relations discourages China from responding to requests for help on this matter, it said.
As dredging incursions typically occur more than 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from shore, the CGA is limited to pursuing charges under Article 18 of the Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the Republic of China (中華民國專屬經濟海域及大陸礁層法), which was not a strong deterrent before the amendment was enacted, the CGA said.
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