News analysis Chinese man enters Taiwan on boat, raising alarm about island's defence

Incident may be part of Beijing's grey-zone tactics against Taiwan, say analysts

- Yip Wai Yee

A Chinese man tried to illegally enter northern Taiwan on Sept 14 on an inflatable rubber boat that went undetected by radar systems, raising alarm bells about gaps in the island's coastal defence capabilities amid heightened cross-strait tensions.

While the 30-year-old man surnamed Wang, who was eventually spotted by anglers in Taiwan, claimed that he had fled China to seek a new life, analysts are not ruling out the possibility that the incident could be a part of Beijing's grey-zone tactics against the island.

Taiwan has, in recent years, complained about China stepping up its so-called grey-zone warfare or the use of irregular tactics to weaken an adversary without resorting to open combat - in its long-term goal to pursue "reunification" with the island, which it claims as its own territory.

For instance, China has sent balloons and drones into Taiwan's air-defence identification zone, aimed at intimidating the public and undermining the morale of the military.

Such incursions have increased as cross-strait tensions heightened after President Lai Ching-te was elected in January, when he secured an unprecedented third term for the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.

"Wang could be gathering information to see if there are some places where it is easier to come ashore here," Assistant Professor Lin Ying-yu, a defence and security expert at Taiwan's Tamkang University, told reporters.

"He could be testing the loopholes and blind spots in (Taiwan's) coast guard patrol operations. Taiwan needs to review and upgrade its processes to more effectively monitor the coastlines."