Seeking ‘freedom and equality,’ Chinese man crosses Taiwan Strait in rubber dinghy

A Chinese man appeared to sail undetected through the highly militarized Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy, fleeing his native China for Taiwan in search of “freedom,” according to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration.

The man, identified only by his surname, Zhou, left Shishi county in Quanzhou, a port city in Fujian province, at 10 a.m. on Friday, arriving more than 10 hours later at Taichung port on Taiwan’s western coast, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said on Monday. Officials said they were still investigating Zhou’s journey over the 100-mile stretch, which is patrolled by hundreds of Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard ships and naval vessels.

Coast Guard officials, relaying Zhou’s account of his journey, told reporters he had traveled in a rubber raft that measured 8.8 feet by 5 feet and that he bought on the Chinese e-commerce site Taobao and fitted with an outboard motor. Zhou, who officials said was born in 1986, brought with him 23 gallons of fuel and essentially no other belongings.

Zhou was found by dock workers who gave him a lunchbox after he said he had sailed from China.

One of the workers notified a manager, who then called authorities.

In a video confirmed by the Central Branch of the Coast Guard Administration as an interview with Zhou by the Taichung Harbor Police, Zhou says, “Taiwan has more freedom and equality.”

When a police officer asks whether life in China is bad, Zhou says: “I believe it is all kinds of bad.”

Zhou, who is being held in a detention center, could face up to three years in prison and a fine, as well as possible repatriation. The Central Branch of the Coast Guard said Zhou was “in good condition” and undergoing a 14-day quarantine.

Last August, 12 Hong Kong protesters were arrested at sea as they tried to escape for Taiwan, running from Beijing’s clampdown on their city. Between 2008 and 2020, more than 400 Chinese nationals have been detained for illegally entering Taiwan as stowaways, according to data from Taiwan’s Coast Guard administration.