Taiwan’s Coast Guard arrested the Chinese man on June 9 after his boat collided with vessels in the Tamsui River. File photo
| Photo Credit: AFP

A former Chinese naval captain arrested for illegally entering Taiwan by boat was formally charged on Wednesday, but prosecutors said “no military or national security involvement” was linked to his act.

The man, surnamed Ruan, was picked up by Taiwan’s coast guard in June after his vessel collided with other boats on the Tamsui River.

Officials said he was one of 18 purported defectors from China seen over the past year or so.

They all claimed to admire Taiwan’s “democratic way of life”, authorities said, who also warned they could not rule out the possibility the incursions were a test of the island’s defences by China.

Mr. Ruan, 60, reportedly told coast guard officers that he wanted to “defect”. The Shilin District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday charged him with violating a law governing relations with China and also for entering Taiwan without permission.

China has in recent years ramped up military and political pressures on the island, while Beijing has severed all top-level communications since 2016.