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A 60-year-old former Chinese navy officer surnamed Ruan was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday for illegally entering Taiwan, Taiwan News reported.
Ruan travelled from the Chinese province of Fujian by speedboat and arrived at the Tamsui ferry pier in New Taipei 12 hours after his departure, on June 9. Further, he claimed that he wanted to escape the communist-ruled country and claim political asylum in Taiwan. When he was detained, he told police the authorities in China had found news items critical of the government when they looked at his phone in May, as per Taiwan News. Appeals against the verdict by the Shilin District Court are still possible. The suspect did not appear in court. The court found him guilty of illegal entry, Taiwan News reported, citing Liberty Times. China had ordered him to delete the items from the phone and restricted his movements, barring him from leaving the country, he said. During his court case, he reportedly handed over a drawing of Chinese naval positions along the Fujian coast. According to Taiwan News, investigators in Taiwan found Ruan had once served as a captain in the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The verdict came less than a week after another Chinese man arrived in Taiwan's Linkou by inflatable boat after a trip from Ningbo. The coast guard said that due to its small size and slow speed, it had been difficult for radar to spot the intruder. Meanwhile, recently a debt-ridden Chinese man illegally tried to enter Taiwan. The man was found on a rubber dinghy in waters near the northern city of New Taipei on Saturday, Focus Taiwan stated. An official from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said that they got information at 6:30 am (local time) from the New Taipei Fire Department that a person was spotted near the Houkeng River estuary in New Taipei's Linkou District, which is along a coastal expressway. The official said that on reaching the spot, they discovered a rubber dinghy about 100 metres from the shore, Focus Taiwan reported. Around 7 am, CGA personnel, along with New Taipei firefighters, brought the 30-year-old Chinese man, Wang, to the shore from the dinghy. He was sent to the hospital as he was suffering from severe dehydration, Focus Taiwan quoted the CGA official as saying. Wang said that he came to Taiwan to start a new life as he was heavily in debt back home in China. (ANI)
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