The Chinese Government has urged Taiwan this Wednesday to act with caution and explained that the Chinese citizen detained on Sunday by the Taiwanese Coast Guard after crossing the strait that separates both territories “was acting alone”, so he does not pose a threat to the island. Beijing has indicated that the man used a motorboat to approach Taiwan “at his expense”, although he has stressed that “there is nothing suspicious” and that it is only an isolated incident. During a press conference in Beijing, the spokesperson for the Chinese Office for Taiwan Affairs, Chen Binhua, clarified that these were “personal” actions on the part of the detainee in question. “There is no need for the Taiwanese authorities to believe that there are soldiers in every tree and political intentions where there are none,” he said. In this sense, he has assured that the man will receive his punishment once he returns to Chinese territory, although he has not given more details on the matter, as reported by the entity in a statement. However, the case has raised alarm bells in Taiwan, which claims that the detainee is a former Navy captain who could have been testing “the island’s defenses.” The Taiwanese coast guard intercepted the boat off the coast of Tamsui. The authorities, who did not detect the boat until it was near the coast, have not given any explanations about its possible transfer to mainland China and have indicated that they are investigating the matter. Taiwan’s Director General of National Security, Tsai Ming Yen, has clarified that at the moment the possibility that China is behind the incident is not excluded due to the subject’s military past.
