Taiwan probes Chinese fishing boat's entry to strategic river mouth

Taiwanese authorities are investigating how an alleged former Chinese naval officer sailed a small boat into a strategic river mouth that leads to the capital of the self-governing island.

The authorities on Tuesday identified the Chinese national arrested for illegally entering the island, saying they could not rule out the possibility the incursion was a "test" of their defences.

The small boat was detected off the coast but apparently was not interdicted until it began interfering with ferry traffic across the Tamsui River.

The river flows from the mountains of inner Taiwan into the 160-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China. The two countries split during a civil war in 1949.

The boat’s pilot was identified as a 60-year-old former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy surnamed Ruan, the official Central News Agency said, raising questions as to whether the voyage was an attempt to test Taiwan’s detection and defence capabilities amid rising Chinese threats to take over the island it claims as its own territory.

'Very sorry' for breach

Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Minister, Kuan Bi-ling, said the man had served as a captain in the Chinese Navy.

She added that he was one of 18 purported defectors seen over the past year or so. All of them claimed they admired self-ruled "Taiwan's democratic way of life and came for freedom."

"We often encounter this kind of rhetoric... we do not believe it, and we will investigate it from all aspects," she told reporters.

"What's different this time is... the man is more refined and better dressed, and his experience is more special," Kuan said, alluding to his naval service.

"We do not rule out that this is a test," she continued, adding she was "very sorry" for the breach.

The Taiwan Strait is a key transit point for global commerce but is also known for its winds and tides, raising speculation over whether the small boat made it on its own from the Chinese coast or was launched from some kind of mother vessel.

Transport links have been restored between the sides over the past two decades, but China's ruling Communist Party keeps tight restrictions on where serving and retired officials can travel.