Lawmakers yesterday condemned the Lienchiang County Government over allegations that Matsu-based smugglers were selling Australian rock lobsters to Chinese fishers, who cannot legally obtain the crustaceans due to a Chinese ban.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) and DPP Lienchiang County Chapter Director Lii Wen (李問) at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei accused the county of turning a blind eye to smuggling.
China in 2020 banned Australian rock lobster imports after Canberra called for an international investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
Initial attempts to smuggle lobsters through Hong Kong failed after a crackdown, causing the smuggling business to move to the Taiwanese county, Hung said.
Lobsters are smuggled on cargo planes ferrying commodities and other necessities to the county, Lii said.
Lii said he had notified the county government that half of the air cargo entering the county consisted of contraband lobster, citing a manifest from Oct. 20 last year showing a shipment of 1,400kg of lobster sent from Taiwan proper to the county.
While port records show that ships carrying lobsters had left for Daciou Island (大坵), ship logs show that the vessels instead sailed to Gaodeng Island (高登), which has no residents and is home to a military garrison, he said.
The Matsu branch of the Coast Guard Administration in October last year called on the county government to stop authorizing shipments to the two islands, but the call was ignored, Lii said.
Hung said the coast guard afterward tried to cover for its lack of action, saying he county government had said that “there were no issues.”
Lii said there have long been rumors that local politicians were “shielding” illicit activity in the county, and called on the judiciary and prosecutors to look into the allegations.
Hung also demanded that the coast guard investigate the alleged smuggling and identify whether it is an isolated incident or part of an extensive network.
The coast guard yesterday said that it adheres to the law, such as the Coast Guard Act (海岸巡防法), when inspecting ships leaving ports.
It monitors vessels when they are out of port, it said, adding that no outside actors are influencing its duties.
The coast guard said that it on Dec. 9 informed the Lienchiang District Prosecutors’ Office about alleged smuggling and presented a report to the Executive Yuan’s Smuggling Committee on Dec. 26.
It said that it also forwarded a request to the county government to amend laws to provide it with the necessary legal basis to handle similar incidents.
Additional reporting by CNA
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to