Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai has announced that the government will swiftly review recent incidents of Chinese nationals entering the self-ruled island illegally by boat. This decision comes in response to the discovery of a Chinese man in a rubber dinghy in waters near northern New Taipei City on Saturday. This incident follows a similar case in June, raising concerns about the potential security risks posed by these illegal crossings.
“We have already been reviewing some cases in the past and perhaps this incident has made us feel that we must speed up,” Cho told reporters. “I can promise that ensuring national security is the unshakeable responsibility of the government. We must quickly review these incidents and make appropriate preparations”.
The Coast Guard received a report from the New Taipei Fire Department early Saturday about a man spotted near the Houkeng River estuary, approximately 100 meters from the shore. Coast guard personnel promptly retrieved the Chinese national from the water and transported him to a hospital for treatment due to severe dehydration.
The man, who claimed to have “debts in China and wants to start a new life in Taiwan”, according to the coast guard, was subsequently detained for attempting to enter the island without proper authorization.
China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has intensified military and political pressure on the island in recent years.
Last month, Taiwanese prosecutors indicted a former Chinese naval captain who was apprehended for illegally entering Taiwan by boat. However, prosecutors stated that “no military or national security involvement” was connected to his actions. He was apprehended by the Coast Guard in June after his vessel collided with other boats on the Tamsui River, which flows from the capital Taipei to the island’s northern coast.
Officials have reported that approximately 18 purported defectors from China have been observed over the past year. All of them claimed to admire Taiwan’s “democratic way of life”, according to authorities. However, officials also cautioned that they cannot rule out the possibility that these incursions could be a test of Taiwan’s defenses by China.
