Man from China fails in sixth attempt to smuggle himself to Taiwan
Staff Reporter 2013-06-01 09:18
The man, surnamed Hu, was arrested by police in Kinmen in his latest attempt to defect. (Photo/China Times)
A man from China has failed in his sixth bid to smuggle himself into Taiwan but says he will try again, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.
The 42-year-old man surnamed Hu, who is from Liaoning province in northeastern China, was arrested trying to sail about from Xiamen in the southeastern province of Fujian to the Taiwan-held island of Kinmen, which lies a short distance from the mainland. He arrived at Kinmen in the early morning of May 24 with the intention of traveling from there to mainland Taiwan where he hoped to meet the country's president, Ma Ying-jeou. Hu said he wanted to borrow money from Ma to return to China and launch a democracy movement. He was stopped by local police, however.
Hu said he is not discouraged by his latest failure and will come back again if he has the chance. Hu has tried to get to Taiwan six times in the past decade after his first attempt in 2003. He asked a local resident to report him to the police on his third attempt, which was in 2008.
Hu says he envies Taiwan's democracy and would like to live on the other side of the strait. He said he liked Kinmen and was pleased when the police gave him a rice lunchbox to eat.
