Taiwanese fishing boat returning after being intercepted
ROC Central News Agency
2013/05/14 19:57:31
Taipei, May 14 (CNA) A fishing boat from southern Taiwan's Pingtung County that was intercepted by Vietnamese government vessels Tuesday was reported to be returning to Taiwan, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).
The CGA said it received a report at 5:47 a.m that day that the Lung Wang Li No. 97 was intercepted by a vessel in waters around 790 nautical miles southeast of Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost tip.
The fishing boat, registered in Liouciou Township, was instructed to follow a searchlight and sail toward Vietnam by the vessel when it was making its way to Taiwan from Thailand' Phuket Island, according to the CGA's initial report.
Twenty minutes later, more than five similar vessels surrounded the Taiwanese fishing boat, according to the report.
Tsai Tien-yu, the owner of the boat who reported the case to the CGA, said he had similar experiences, as two of his boats operating on the open seas were detained by government boats from Vietnam 10 years ago and he had to pay US$30,000 as ransom to the Southeast Asian country to get them back.
Tsai urged the government not only to step up long-term measures to ensure the safety of fishing boats but also to enter fishery talks with Vietnam to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Taiwan's representative to Vietnam, Huang Chih-peng, said he had been informed of the case and was in close contact with Vietnamese officials.
(By Liu Chien-pang, Kuo Chu-chen, Tony Fang and Maia Huang)
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