Number of Chinese stowaways in Taiwan down dramatically in 2009

SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian said the number of Chinese stowaways dropped to 246 in 2009, down almost 96 percent from the 6,000 that came to Taiwan in 1993, when the number of Chinese people risking their lives on boats to enter Taiwan illegally reached its peak.

With cross-Taiwan Strait relations improving and Chinese authorities taking back Chinese stowaways more quickly, only 34 of them remain detained in Taiwan at present, Kao said.

"China's economy is growing and generating more job opportunities, so there is no need for Chinese people to become stowaways anymore," Kao added.

Since the number of Chinese detainees has fallen to a mere 34, the SEF might not visit them at their detention centers during the Chinese New Year, he said.

Improved cross-Strait relations also generated more business for the SEF last year, Kao noted. The number of people visiting the SEF to take care of a range of issues rose more than 50 percent to 600 per day in 2009, while the number of document certification cases increased 43 percent, he said.

Taiwan nationals made 4.48 million visits to China in 2009, up 2.5 percent from the previous year, Kao said.

A total of 960,000 Chinese people visited Taiwan in 2009, of which 600,000 were tourists and the remainder came on business, he indicated.

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