Taiwan investigates how a Chinese fishing boat managed to enter a strategic river mouth

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — 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 republic. The small boat was detected off the coast but apparently was not interdicted until it began interfering with ferry traffic in the Tamsui River, which flows into the 160-kilometer (100-mile) -wide Taiwan Strait that separates Taiwan and China, which split during a civil war in 1949. The official Central News Agency identified the boat’s pilot as a 60-year-old former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy surnamed Ruan, raising questions about whether the voyage was an attempt to test Taiwan’s detection and defense capabilities.