An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.
Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County.
The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Similar instances had also occurred when volunteers patrolling waters in South Penghu Marine National Park reported seeing Chinese fishing boats, only to find out later they were all Taiwanese vessels using the Chinese navigation system.
Ships with AIS can exchange electronic data with other vessels, onshore stations, satellites and other equipment using its Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI). It provides identification and positioning for the ship traffic management system as well.
Though the Maritime Port Bureau and the Fisheries Agency had subsidized boat owners that purchase AIS, most of them continue to buy ones with Chinese chips, because they are relatively cheaper, sources familiar with the matter said.
As regulations do not require AIS to be installed on 12m-long or shorter boats, owners are more likely to use the same MMSI instead of applying for a new one, the sources said.
The Fisheries Agencies said it could consider banning the use of Chinese AIS on fishing boats.
Last year, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party reported that a Taiwanese fishing boat used the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the Chinese National Space Administration, for drug trafficking purposes.
The boat had used the Chinese system to evade the Taiwanese government, the National Communication Commission (NCC) said, adding that the system is regulated by the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) and must be certified and approved by the NCC before it can be imported to, manufactured and sold in Taiwan.
People who sell the system without NCC’s approval would be fined NT$10,000 to NT$200,000 (US$309 to US$6,177), while those who illegally manufacture the system or import it would be fined NT$100,000 to NT$1 million and would be asked to rectify the situation within a designated period, it said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its