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
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