Stories about these illegal immigrants to Taiwan that appear in the reports of high ministers are quite colorful. Some "arrived in Taiwan to sell goods for a few days, and then, lacking money, decided to stay." Then there were fishermen "whose catch wasn't enough for their families to eat, and thus decided to smuggle people onto the island."
偷渡的故事在大臣的奏報裡，形形色色，不是「意欲置貨運赴台售賣，停泊多日，資本無措，於是起意偷渡獲利」，就是「捕魚獲利不敷食用，起意偷渡攬客」。