Former Chinese naval officer infiltrated Taiwan, reached close to Taipei with a speedboat

A former Chinese naval officer intruded into Taiwan’s waters on Sunday. He drove his speedboat straight to a pier outside the capital Taipei. Taiwan’s top politicians have strongly criticized the intrusion of a Chinese man into its territory amid repeated tensions with China and high security measures. The former Chinese naval officer who tried to enter Taiwan revealed his name as Ruan.

The Taiwan Coast Guard said the suspected Chinese national hit a boat with his speedboat after entering the Tamsui River near Taipei. Ruan said he had started his journey to Taiwan from Fuzhou, China, a day earlier. The Taiwan Coast Guard did not find any suspicious items in his speedboat. According to the Taiwan Coast Guard, the man said he was tortured by Chinese authorities for ‘making inappropriate statements’ and wanted to flee to Taiwan.

He has been accused of violating various Taiwanese laws, including violation of the Immigration Act. Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Tuesday that the possibility cannot be ruled out that there is a strategy behind China’s intrusion into our territory by speedboat. Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-yi called it a serious security lapse, especially considering that Taipei is less than 10 minutes away from the pier where the speedboat intruded.

He said, ‘No lapse in national border security can be tolerated. This incident indicates that the Coast Guard and first-line security reporting mechanism were not managed effectively.’ Let us tell you that last month, pro-independence leader Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election in Taiwan. After this, China has intensified military exercises involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force around Taiwan.

Let us tell you that China claims that Taiwan is part of it. Beijing calls Taiwan a rebellious province and talks of merging it with its mainland, even if it has to be done by force. At the same time, Taiwan considers itself an independent nation and calls China an expansionist who wants to occupy it. Taiwan wants to maintain its separate identity and democratic system. Most of its population supports a sovereign and independence.