China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) yesterday said that the Chinese man who drove a motorboat into a strategic river mouth in Taiwan on Sunday was acting on his own and would be punished upon his return to China.
However, the National Security Bureau said it would not exclude any possibilities regarding the man’s motivations, including the Chinese government’s involvement. The man has been identified as a 60-year-old former Chinese navy captain surnamed Ruan (阮).
Coast guard personnel on Sunday arrested Ruan in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) after his boat entered Tamsui River (淡水河).
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The boat was detected off the coast of Taiwan on Sunday, but was not intercepted until it collided with other vessels at a ferry terminal on the river, which leads to the capital and flows into the Taiwan Strait.
Authorities have detained Ruan, and his apparent naval background has raised suspicions that the voyage might have been an attempt by China to test Taiwan’s detection and defense capabilities.
Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing yesterday, TAO spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said what Ruan had done was “purely his personal action.”
“There is no need for the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to see soldiers hiding behind every tree and bush, carrying out political manipulation while pretending to act earnestly,” he said.
Ruan would be punished once he returns to China, Chen added, without giving details.
Taiwan has not indicated when or if it would send him back, saying that legal authorities are still investigating the matter.
At the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said that Ruan’s apparent military background made the case rather unusual.
“There are many areas of doubt that still need to be further clarified,” he said.
Taiwan has said in recent years that China has been using “gray zone” warfare, which is designed to exhaust a foe by using irregular tactics without resorting to open combat, such as flying surveillance balloons over the nation.
Tsai said the speedboat incident might be just such a tactic.
Meanwhile, 22 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and vessels were detected in the airspace and waters around Taiwan in the 24 hours after 6am on Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Thirteen PLA aircraft were detected in the vicinity of Taiwan, two of which crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, while seven others, including one drone, crossed an extension of the median line and entered Taiwan’s southeastern and southwestern air defense identification zones, the ministry said.
The drone flew as close as 43 nautical miles (80km) from Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, ministry data showed.
Nine PLA vessels were detected in waters off Taiwan over the same period.
The ministry said that it was closely monitoring the situation and had deployed combat air patrol aircraft, coastal missile systems and navy vessels in response.
Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard
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