A Chinese fisherman was sentenced Monday last week to 80 days in jail, commuted to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence, for illegally entering Taiwan and engaging in criminal coercion in Keelung.

At around 6am on October 2 last year, while his fishing boat was moored at Zhengbin Fishing Port in Keelung (正濱漁港), the man identified by his surname Jiang (蔣) disembarked without permission to buy breakfast.

Shortly after, he saw a young man waiting at a bus stop. Jiang approached him and forced her arms around him, the Keelung District Prosecutor’s Office’s indictment said.

Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times

After the teenager verbally rejected the fisherman’s advances repeatedly, Jiang let him go and returned to his fishing boat, it said.

The teenager contacted police, who reviewed surveillance footage and arrested Jiang, it said, adding that after police obtained a statement from him, they turned him over to prosecutors.

Following an investigation by the prosecutor’s office, Jiang was charged with entering Taiwan without permission in violation of the Law Governing Relations between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).

He was also charged with criminal coercion under Article 304 of the Penal Code for hugging the teenage girl against her will.

In addition to the sentence, which can be suspended for two years, Jiang must pay a fine of $10,000 within one year of the court’s final ruling.

The decision can still be appealed.