TAIPEI: A Taiwanese fishing boat captain held in China for more than four months on allegations of illegal fishing has been released after paying a fine, Taiwan’s coast guard said on Saturday (Nov 16).
The boat, called Da Jin Man 88, was carrying five crew members when it was seized by China’s coast guard in waters near Taiwan’s Kinmen islands on Jul 2 for violating Beijing’s seasonal fishing ban.
The Kinmen islands are administered by Taipei but are located just a few kilometres from China’s mainland.
Four of the crew were released in August while the boat and its captain were freed on Friday.
Taiwan’s coast guard escorted the boat to Penghu, an archipelago where it is registered, and arrived at around midnight (4pm GMT), a Taiwan coast guard official told AFP on Saturday.
In a statement late on Friday, Taiwan’s coast guard said the boat left the Chinese city of Quanzhou at around 2pm on Friday after “penalty procedures were completed”.
The official did not provide details about the fine, but Taiwan media reported that two politicians in Penghu had helped arrange payment of more than 210,000 Chinese yuan (US$29,000).
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office confirmed in a statement on Friday that “punitive measures” had been taken against the captain and that he had been freed.
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