Taipei [Taiwan]April 28: A Taiwanese fisherman from Kinmen Island who has been detained by China for more than a month could be freed if he is released from the military, according to Taiwanese news reports.
Hu, 25, had set out on a fishing trip on March 17 with another man from Kinmen, but as fog closed in, they strayed into Chinese waters and were later detained by China's coast guard.
While the other was allowed to return to Kinmen nearly a week later, Hu was forced to stay because China accused Hu of concealing his identity as an active-duty officer, Taiwanese news reports said.
Legislator Chen Yu-jen, who represented Kinmen in Yuan's legislature, said the procedure for Hu to leave the army had begun.
Speaking in Beijing, Chen visited as part of a 17-member delegation of lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
He said that since Hu will soon no longer be a member of the armed forces, his position will change and defuse the situation.
According to Chen, he will talk to Chinese officials about Hu's fate during his stay in Beijing and will contact his relatives after he returns to Taiwan.
For the past 40 days, Hu has been detained on a Chinese coast guard ship, but he has been able to contact his family, according to Taiwanese news.
Last week, Taiwanese spokesman Jan Jyh-horng expressed hope that Chinese authorities would honor their promise and repatriate the two men as soon as possible.
Apparently, China wants to repatriate the two men through unofficial channels, he added.
Meanwhile, Kinmen County Magistrate Chen Fu-hai called on China to send the two fishermen home as soon as possible, saying the county government had a fishing boat ready to pick them up at any time, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.
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