China Releases Taiwanese Fishing Boat Captain After 4 Months of Detention

A member of Taiwan's military (front) takes part in routine exercises at Liaoluo Port in Kinmen on May 24, 2024. I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese authorities released a Taiwan-flagged fishing boat and its captain on Nov. 15, four months after it was seized for allegedly violating China’s fishing ban, according to the Taiwanese coast guard.

The boat, dubbed “Da Jin Man 88,” was seized by the Chinese coast guard on July 2 for allegedly violating a seasonal fishing ban in Chinese waters about 17.5 nautical miles off the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen.

The boat’s Taiwanese captain and four crew members—three Indonesian nationals and one Taiwanese—were detained during the incident, but the four crew were later released in August due to minor violations.

Taiwan’s coast guard said the boat was released and departed the Chinese city of Quanzhou on Nov. 15 after the “penalty process” was resolved. The boat and its captain were expected to arrive at the Zhuwan fishing port in Penghu, Taiwan, on Nov. 16.

While Taiwanese authorities did not specify the penalty amount, local media said that more than 210,000 yuan (around $29,000) was paid for the release.

Of the total penalty, Chinese authorities fined the captain more than 100,00 yuan (around $13,800), while the remaining amount was imposed on the vessel. Two local politicians assisted in negotiating their release.

During the July incident, Taiwan dispatched three vessels to rescue the fishing boat, but they were blocked by three Chinese boats and told not to intervene, according to Taiwanese maritime authorities.

The pursuit was called off to avoid escalating the conflict after Taiwan’s maritime authorities spotted four more Chinese vessels moving closer, resulting in the seizure of the boat and the arrest of its crew.

Tsai Ming-yen, director-general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said on July 4 that the real motivation behind the Chinese regime’s seizure of the Taiwanese boat remains to be seen.

“There may be follow-up administrative fines in order for communist China to demonstrate its jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. It could also use the event to weaken [the Taiwanese] government’s sovereign status or apply pressure on the government,” Tsai told reporters at the time.

“We must continue to analyze this, aside from official statements from communist China, whether there is anything relevant, showing this as being a cognitive warfare operation.”

Kinmen, at its closest point, is about 2 miles from the Chinese island of Xiamen and about 6 miles from the Chinese mainland. The island is 116 miles from the main island of Taiwan, which governs it.

The maritime incident also exacerbates already rising tensions across the strait following the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, in May. Since then, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has launched what it calls “punishment” military drills encircling Taiwan and issued new judicial guidelines threatening to impose the death penalty on “diehard” supporters of Taiwan independence.

The CCP, which has never ruled Taiwan, considers the self-governed island to be a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland and has never ruled out the possibility of using force to seize it.

Frank Fang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.