Unusual Turn of Events in Taiwan: Man's Quarantine Sentence Revoked After kidnapping Ordeal
According to the Changhua branch of the Administrative Enforcement Agency under the Ministry of Justice, a man named Chen entered Taiwan from Hong Kong at the end of October, and was under quarantine at a friend's house in Nantou's city center.
On November 1st at 11 pm, loan sharks broke into the house, mistakenly assumed Chen to be his friend, and abducted him, forcing him to settle their debts. Chen was brutally mistreated during his captivity and was eventually released.
Initially, the local health department fined Chen 3,500 USD for violating quarantine regulations. However, the case was later referred to the Ministry of Justice to investigate allegations of forced detention. The police confirmed Chen's account and an investigation against the kidnappers was launched.
While such cases are rare, hefty fines for breaking quarantine rules are not uncommon in Taiwan. In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, Taiwan imposed strict quarantine measures, including fining a Philippine laborer 3,500 USD for leaving his hotel room for 8 seconds and a man in Taichung, Central Taiwan, 35,000 USD for violating quarantine at home (reports suggest he was fined at least 7 times).
Experts credit Taiwan's swift and decisive response to the epidemic for its success, a lesson learned from the SARS epidemic. Taiwan started quarantining international passengers arriving from Wuhan (the origin of the virus) as early as December 31, 2019, long before the city was quarantined. The country closed its borders to foreigners except diplomats, residents, and those with special visas until March. Arrivals had to undergo quarantine.
Furthermore, Taiwan invested in rapid testing and testing programs, which aided in containing the outbreak. The democratic island, home to 23 million people, has been free of a new case for months and has confirmed only 918 Covid-19 cases and 8 virus-related deaths so far.
Taiwan's police and CNN have censored parts of the image above to protect Chen's identity.
Contributions to this report have been made by CNN's Peking Bureau.
Additional Insights:
- Taiwan's Quarantine Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic:
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Taiwan implemented a series of measures to control the spread of the virus. These included:
- Containing the Initial Outbreak: Taiwan successfully managed to contain the initial outbreak without having to shut down schools or businesses[1].
- Employer Responsibilities: Employers were required to secure COVID medical insurance for incoming foreign blue-collar workers (migrant workers). If they failed to do so, workers would be barred from entering Taiwan. Employers were also responsible for footing the entire insurance premium cost[1].
- Quarantine Easing: Entry quarantine was ended on October 13, 2022, and the limit on inbound numbers was removed on December 10, 2022. In November 2022, patients were only required to stay in quarantine for 5 days[1].
Unusual Case of a Man's Kidnapping and Subsequent Revoked Quarantine Sentence:
The sources did not provide any information on an unusual case of a man's kidnapping that led to his quarantine sentence being revoked. However, they did discuss the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents, which is a separate context[2].
The North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens, such as the case of Keiko Arimoto, who was kidnapped in 1983, has been a long-standing issue. The Japanese government claims that 17 individuals have been victims of these kidnappings, and efforts have been ongoing to secure their return for decades[2]. Akihiro Arimoto, the father of one of the kidnapped victims, passed away in 2025, leaving Sakie Yokota as the only surviving parent of kidnap victims[2].
