Defense experts have urged the government to be on high alert following the arrest of a Chinese national in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) who claimed to have driven a motorboat from China to “defect” to Taiwan.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Sunday arrested the man, who allegedly arrived at a harbor at the mouth of the Tamsui River (淡水河) that leads into Taipei.
The suspicious vessel was monitored after being spotted at about 11am, 6 nautical miles (11.11km) off Tamsui, the CGA said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration via CNA
After entering the river, the boat collided with other vessels at a ferry terminal, prompting ferry operators to contact the coast guard and file a report.
The intruder, identified as a 60-year-old man surnamed Ruan (阮), was being questioned by Taipei prosecutors on suspicion of contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法).
An unnamed source familiar with the incident told local media that Ruan claimed he wanted to defect to Taiwan after making anti-Chinese government comments on online messaging apps.
The incident drew attention from the media and military experts because the Tamsui River is considered a critical strategic location and serves as the gateway to the capital, where the Presidential Office and other important government institutions are located.
The military regularly holds the drills in the Tamsui River estuary, the Port of Taipei and Bali Beach — the so-called “defense triangle of Taipei” — to test its ability to guard the critical strategic area.
Defense experts yesterday said that it is still unclear whether Ruan really wanted to defect, or if the incident was part of a Chinese government test of Taiwan’s coastal and harbor management and defenses.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said it is unlikely Ruan could have gone more than 200km from the coast of China to Taiwan aboard a motorboat.
It is more likely that the boat was released from a larger vessel midway, Su said.
Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Institute of Strategic Studies, said that Taiwan has the technological capability to monitor its shores at all times, but that the incident on Sunday revealed certain weaknesses in harbor management and control.
It was possible that the Chinese Communist Party was behind the incident to test Taiwan’s defense capabilities, Lin said.
He called on the government to remain on high alert.
Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌), another researcher from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the incident shows that the coast guard, police and military must have clearer jurisdictions to help them respond timely to such events.
“Or in the future, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army could continue testing Taiwan’s defenses near the Tamsui River estuary by sending more and more civilian ships, speedboats or even unnamed ships,” he said.
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