It’s quite possible they didn’t lose it but left it there holding the seat or wandered off to shop some more and didn’t want to carry it around. We also only have the OP’s side as to the circumstances, perhaps the owner wasn’t so far away…
As somone already mentioned, could have been worth a substantial amount and hence reported.
I excluded the other part because I wasn’t asking about that. I was asking how she can make it right. I thought you had something else apart from to own it.
As far as you asking what i did…well rest assured that whatever i have done in my life, i owned it. So all is right in the world.
Fight that good fight Man!
I am now wondering if taking an umbrella left on a bus is regarded as theft too. Always thought it’s better that someone takes it than having the bus company throw it a way (they are not doing umbrella auction, do they?), cause no chance the owner will chase that umbrella down. Same goes for furniture left on the street for the garbarge crews to pick it up, so much fine stuff being wasted, especially items made of solid wood.
As for valuable items, like wallets or bags with cosmetics, of course you don’t want to pick those. Also, there’s a chance that those are left on purpose and someone is filming you from behind the bushes.
This stuff is literally the only stuff I would ever consider to be fair game, especially when it clearly says that they’ve already notified the 環保局. Otherwise, I do what my parents taught me and I don’t touch things that don’t belong to me.
The official English translation of Article 320 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code refers to stealing, or theft, as larceny. For theft, it appears that a person can be imprisoned for up to five years or fined up to NT$500,000 (they appear to be alternative penalties). This is the English translation of Article 320:
What the original poster did does not seem to be covered by Article 320. It seems, rather, to be covered by Article 337, which seems to prescribe a fine of NT$15,000, and which doesn’t seem to prescribe any jail time.
In any case, it appears that the law does not classify what the original poster did as theft. It appears to be a lesser offense than that of theft.
The history of the above-referenced Article (i. e., Article 337) shows that it originally prescribed a maximum fine of 500 yuan. The law was originally passed in the 24th year of the Republic of China, which would be 1935. This new maximum fine, 15,000 yuan, seems to come from a revision of the law dated in the 108th year of the Republic of China, which is 2019. The immediately below should show the above (you may need Google Translate or something similar, if, like me, you don’t know Chinese):
This appears to be the English translation of Article 337:
So it appears that I’m going to have to revise my earlier opinion, which was that I could not determine the maximum amount of the fine. Apparently the maximum amount is in New Taiwan Dollars. As of today, according to XE.com, NT$15,000 is the equivalent of about US$463.81, or about 363.15 British Pounds, or about 426.52 Euros.
Now, a word about theft, or stealing.
Article 337, the article that seems most applicable to this current situation, doesn’t seem to require any jail time–only a fine. Moreover, it doesn’t use any language to indicate that a theft has taken place.
Again, theft, or stealing, seems to be covered by Article 320, which the English version entitles “Larceny.” This Article apparently prescribes alternative penalties–either a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of NT$500,000 (assuming that this prescribed amount is the current amount). That fine would seem be about 14,216 Euros, or about US$15,459, or about 12,105 British Pounds, according to XE.com. The fine for stealing, together with the alternative prison sentence, seems to be a much heavier penalty than the penalty for wrongfully appropriating property that is not under another person’s obvious control.
So I think it would probably be a mistake to assign the word “theft” or “stealing” to what the original poster appears to have done, simply because that’s not what the law seems to call it. And the law does have an article, a different article, for theft, or stealing. In the English translation, it refers to it as larceny.
Here’s someone getting busted for the same law because they just randomly started eating someone’s udon at a food court (original owner went to the restroom) - 丸龜烏龍麵暫放桌上如廁！返座驚見陌生人爽嗑 他傻眼怒報警 | ETtoday社會新聞 | ETtoday新聞雲
On one hand, it’s kind of crazy. On the other hand, calling in the police to deal with an issue over a < 300 NTD food court meal is even more crazy…
Jeezus! 
Guy
wow, no shit, someone reported to police that they have their stuff stolen. wow, could never have thought of that!
I’m similarly finding the ‘When is it OK to take somebody else’s property?’ theme a bit odd in this thread.
Advice from @Taiwan_Luthiers, to boot. Although, to be fair, at least asking first cannot be argued with.
If you accidentally pick up someone else’s order at a restaurant, I wonder if that is also stealing. Or they deliver the food to the wrong table and you take a bite. Maybe need to double/triple check my order from now on.
I once picked up an order of chicken, the order didn’t look right to me so I double checked with them and they said it’s mine, so I went ahead and ate. In the middle of my meal the restaurant owner came out and rudely pointed out that I picked up someone else’s order and I said I’d just pay for it afterwards.
In cases like that, it’s likely time to mobilize the pai se, pai se move, and sincerely offer to make things right.
Guy
I wouldn’t apologise. The server is at fault.
Me neither. If they complained at me for eating it, I’d be complaining more that they’d brought me the wrong stuff (unless it happened to be nicer than what I’d actually ordered, which would be rare in Taiwan). I definitely wouldn’t be paying for it, especially if I’d already checked with the server as @jimbob132 did.
Only possible exception would be in one of those shitty places where the boss deducts wrong orders from the server’s already-low paycheck and the server had been otherwise nice so I didn’t want to see that happen for an honest mistake. I’ve done that before, but I’m picky and generally want to receive what I ordered.
I once picked up a kid’s left-behind school bag on a bus and took some effort to contact the parents and give it back to the parent in person. The parent was very happy. Could I have been accused of stealing?!? I thought I was being a good samaritan.
I think it would depend on whether the person made a demonstrable and reasonably fast effort to return it to the owner or hand it in. I remember a post on Reddit where someone found someone’s lost keys at an MRT station and hung onto them until the next month before asking what to do. It’s like… what’s the point of picking them up? If you can’t be bothered doing anything with them, just leave them where they are for someone else who can. 
Obviously not what happened here.
I deleted a few posts again. Please stay on topic, and don’t suggest things that could sound like trying to escape possible justice.
It’s not a crime to leave legally. International black lists certainly aren’t caring about stolen cosmetics. The time frame has lapsed, if it was a real issue this person is either already locked, or not. If locked, welcome to Taiwan. Interested to see your second thread… 
Makeup can be expensive, so can bags. There was enough value sitting there for OP to commit theft in an airport in a foreign country
Taiwan is also a place where people leave their phone or car keys to reserve a seat, so maybe they came back from getting a bubble tea and their seat was taken, which is also very mafan and someone must pay!
Petty theft . . . the risk / benefits are dubious aren’t they.
Then again, I’ve seen tons of videos of folks in the US who think they are pretty smart stealing amazon and other packages left on porches, so what do I know!
Guy