Taiwan authorities revoke quarantine fine for man after discovering he was kidnapped
Hong Kong (CNN) — Taiwanese authorities mentioned they may not fine a man for breaking quarantine as a result of investigators found he was kidnapped in an unlucky case of mistaken id.
The man, whose surname is Chen, had arrived from Hong Kong in late October and was quarantining at a pal’s home within the central metropolis of Nantou, in keeping with a press release from the Changhua Branch of the Ministry of Justice’s Administrative Enforcement Agency.
On November 1 at 11 p.m., debt collectors broke in and whisked Chen away in opposition to his will, mistaking him for his pal. They pressured him to pay the money owed and ultimately returned Chen, who sustained accidents through the ordeal.
Local public well being authorities initially fined Chen $3,500 for violating the quarantine order, however the case was handed over to the Ministry of Justice to research the claims of pressured detention.
Police verified Chen’s declare and the abductors at the moment are below investigation, authorities mentioned.
While the case is uncommon, the hefty fine shouldn’t be. Taiwan has levied a sequence of huge fines on individuals violating quarantine as a part of its world-class response to the pandemic.
Experts say that Taiwan response to the pandemic has been one of the profitable due to its early, decisive motion — an necessary lesson the island took away from the lethal SARS outbreak.
Taiwanese authorities started screening passengers on direct flights from Wuhan, the place the virus was first recognized, on December 31, 2019 — again when the virus was principally the topic of rumors and restricted reporting and nicely earlier than Wuhan itself went into lockdown. By March, Taiwan had banned all overseas nationals from getting into the island, aside from diplomats, residents and people with particular entry visas. Those getting into had been required to endure quarantine.
Taiwanese police and CNN have blurred components of the above picture to guard the id of the man.
CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed to this report.
