The 60-year-old man, identified by his last name Ruan, told authorities that he left the port city of Ningde in Fuzhou province last Saturday, sailing around 250km (155 miles) in 15 hours before he was apprehended at around 11am the next day.
Lawmakers raised grave concerns that the man – who claimed to be an ex-naval captain who left the mainland because he had displeased Beijing – had been able to enter the strategically crucial Tamsui River, which leads directly to downtown Taipei.
“National security cannot be neglected even for a minute,” he told lawmakers in a legislature meeting on Wednesday. “We have instructed the security units to immediately strengthen protective measures.”
Discussing who should take responsibility for the incident, defence minister Wellington Koo noted that the defence of the Tamsui estuary would be crucial when deploying troops during wartime.
“However, during peacetime, the coastguard and military work together to protect our waters. The coastguard uses its inter-shore radar system to regulate marine activities, and the military serves as backup,” he said.
Koo said the incident could be part of Beijing’s “grey zone tactics” to test the limits of the island’s coastal defences, telling the legislature “what should be done now is to clarify the case, remain vigilant, and map out countermeasures”.
A day earlier, Kuan Bi-ling, head of the Ocean Affairs Council which oversees the coastguard, admitted to a “complete failure” of its lookout post and said 10 officers had been disciplined.
But she did not rule out that Beijing may have been testing the feasibility of using speedboats to navigate the Tamsui River, “judging from previous cases”.
In Beijing on Wednesday, the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Council spokesman Chen Binhua said that Ruan’s actions had been “purely his personal behaviour”.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. In common with most other countries, its main international partner the United States does not recognise the island as an independent state, but is opposed to any unilateral change to the status quo and is committed to supplying Taipei with weapons.
Analysts said the incident has exposed a serious problem, revealing obvious loopholes in the island’s coastal defences and operational control mechanisms.
Jang Ming-ruey, secretary general of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society think tank in Taipei, said “serious negligence occurred when the operators failed to take immediate action upon spotting the boat, despite having multiple security lookouts”.
“This incident highlights the issue of inadequate training and judgment among lookout post officers,” he said, emphasising that the Tamsui River estuary is a crucial location, directly connecting to Taipei’s key political and financial centres.
00:50
Mainland Chinese man claiming to be ex-navy captain breaches Taiwan defences in speedboat
Mainland Chinese man claiming to be ex-navy captain breaches Taiwan defences in speedboat
Shu Hsiao-huang, a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government think tank in Taipei, said that while Ruan’s motives remain unclear, the incident could serve as a case study for Beijing.
“It provides an opportunity for the PLA to examine how to effectively deploy amphibious forces to the Tamsui River,” he said.
Shu warned that the PLA could continue testing Taiwan’s defences near the estuary by sending thousands of civilian ships in preparation for a potential attack on Taipei.
“This incident shows Taiwan’s coastguard, police, and military must have clearer jurisdictions to help them respond [in a timely way] to such incidents,” he said.
Chieh Cheng, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in New Taipei, said that while personnel negligence was to blame, the incident also exposed vulnerabilities in the coastal security mechanism itself.
According to Chieh, the coastguard has long-range, high-performance thermal imaging maritime surveillance sensor systems in seven coastal areas that can identify moving objects more than 6 nautical miles (11km) from the coast.
“However, there is no such system in place for Tamsui. This absence not only creates a gap in coastal surveillance but also reflects the coastguard’s mindset. Rather than prioritising defence, they focus more on anti-stowaway and smuggling missions.”
01:10
Beijing accuses Taiwan’s William Lai of sending ‘dangerous signals’ in inauguration speech
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Chieh said that addressing this issue is crucial for the island authorities and pointed out that the island’s navy cannot evade responsibility, considering its superior equipment for detecting vessels.
While the coastguard monitors the 12 nautical mile (22km) area surrounding the coast, the navy is responsible for the 24-nautical mile (44km) contiguous zone, making the navy’s role critical to early detection.
“The navy should have identified the speedboat before it entered the 12-nautical mile zone.”
According to the island’s navy, the boat’s small size and low profile meant that it was able to elude the coastal surveillance radar system, an issue that needed to be addressed promptly, Chieh said.
He recommended that the coastguard dedicate a small vessel straight away to patrol the Tamsui River area, ready for swift interceptive action. Using commercial drones to monitor the region could also help.
But for a long-term solution, Chieh proposed the gradual implementation of more advanced mechanisms that would enhance coastal security and safeguard the area from further breaches.
