The 60-year-old man, identified by his surname Ruan, told authorities he left the port city of Ningde in Fuzhou province last Saturday and sailed about 250 kilometers (155 miles) over 15 hours before being arrested about 11 a.m. the following day.
Lawmakers expressed serious concern that the man, who claimed to be a former naval captain who had left mainland China after falling foul of Beijing, was able to enter the strategically vital Tamsui River, which leads directly into the centre of Taipei.
“National security cannot be ignored even for a minute,” he told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday. “We have instructed security forces to immediately step up protective measures.”
Defence Minister Wellington Khoo discussed who should take responsibility for the incident, noting that the defence of the Tamsui Estuary would be crucial when deploying troops in wartime.
“But in peacetime, the Coast Guard and the military work together to protect our waters. The Coast Guard regulates maritime activity using its coast-to-coast radar system, and the military acts as a back-up,” he said.
Guo said the incident may be part of Beijing’s “gray zone tactics” to test the limits of Taiwan’s coastal defences, and told parliament: “What we need to do now is to bring the incident to light, remain vigilant and develop counter-measures.”
A day earlier, Quang Bi-lin, chairman of the Maritime Commission, which oversees the coast guard, acknowledged a “total failure” of the station and said 10 staff members had been reprimanded.
But she did not rule out the possibility that Beijing may have been testing the feasibility of running high-speed boats on the Danshui River “based on past examples.”
Chen Bin-hua, spokesman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Committee, said in Beijing on Wednesday that Ruan’s actions were “purely his personal actions.”
Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of China and believes it should be unified, by force if necessary. Like most other countries, China’s main international partner, the United States, does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state but opposes any unilateral change to the status quo and has pledged to supply weapons to Taipei.
Analysts said the incident revealed glaring loopholes in the island’s coastal defences and operational control structures, exposing serious problems.
“It was a serious mistake for the ship’s operator to not take immediate action when he spotted the vessel despite there being multiple guards on watch,” said Chang Ming-rui, secretary-general of the Taiwan Institute for International Strategic Studies, a Taipei-based think tank.
“This incident highlights the problem of poor training and judgement among guard post personnel,” he said, stressing the Tamsui estuary’s vital location with direct links to Taipei’s main political and financial centres.
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A mainland Chinese man claiming to be a former navy captain breached Taiwan’s defense line in a speedboat
A mainland Chinese man claiming to be a former navy captain breached Taiwan’s defense line in a speedboat
Xu Xiaohuang, a senior analyst at the Institute for Defence and Security Studies, a government think tank in Taipei, said Ruan’s motives remained unclear but the case could serve as a case study for Beijing.
“This is an opportunity for the PLA to consider how to effectively deploy amphibious forces on the Danshui River,” he said.
Xu warned that the People’s Liberation Army may send thousands of civilian ships in preparation for an attack on Taipei and continue to test Taiwan’s defenses near the river mouth.
“This incident demonstrates the need for Taiwan’s coast guard, police and military to have clearer jurisdiction to respond. [in a timely way] Regarding such incidents, he said:
Cheng Jie, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at New Taipei City’s Tamkang University, said while personnel error was to blame, the incident also exposed vulnerabilities in the coast guard institution itself.
The Coast Guard has installed long-range, advanced thermal imaging marine surveillance sensor systems in seven coastal regions that can identify moving objects more than six nautical miles (11 kilometers) from the shore, Chi said.
“But there is no such system in freshwater. This absence not only creates a vacuum in coastal surveillance but also reflects the Coast Guard’s mindset, which is focused on cracking down on stowaways and smuggling rather than prioritizing defence.”
01:10
Beijing accuses Taiwan’s William Lai of sending ‘dangerous signals’ in inaugural speech
Beijing accuses Taiwan’s William Lai of sending ‘dangerous signals’ in inaugural speech
Addressing the issue was crucial for island authorities, Chee said, noting that the island’s navy had better equipment to detect ships and could not shirk responsibility.
While the Coast Guard monitors an area 12 nautical miles (22 km) around the coast, the Navy is responsible for a 24-nautical-mile (44 km) contiguous zone, making the Navy’s role crucial in early detection.
“The Navy should have identified the speedboat before it entered the 12-nautical-mile zone.”
The island’s navy said the vessel’s small size and low profile allowed it to slip past coastal surveillance radar systems, an issue that needed to be addressed quickly, Chieh said.
He recommended that the Coast Guard immediately send small vessels to patrol the area around the Danshui River and be prepared for swift interdiction action. Using commercial drones to monitor the area could also help.
But as a long-term solution, Chieh suggested the gradual introduction of more sophisticated mechanisms to strengthen coastal security and protect the area from further incursions.
