TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese authorities are investigating how an alleged former Chinese Navy officer managed to reach the mouth of a strategic river that reaches the island’s capital, a self-governed republic, in a small boat.
The boat was spotted near the coast but was apparently not intercepted until it began interfering with ferry traffic on the Tamsui River, which flows from Taiwan’s inland mountains to the 160-kilometer (100-mile) strait that separates Taiwan from China, facing each other since a civil war in 1949.
The ship’s pilot was identified as a 60-year-old former officer of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy with the surname Ruan, according to the Central News Agency, an official media outlet. That raised questions about whether the trip was an attempt to test Taiwanese detection and defense capabilities in the face of growing Chinese threats to conquer the island, which it claims as part of its territory.
The Taiwan Strait is a key transit point for global trade but is also known for its strong winds and tides, prompting speculation about whether the small vessel had arrived on its own from the Chinese coast or departed from some kind of ship. nurse.
Transport links between the two sides have been restored over the past two decades, although China’s ruling Communist Party maintains strict restrictions on where serving and retired officers can travel.
