There are increased tensions between Taiwan and China and after the third term re-election for the Chinese President Xi Jin Ping, it looks like the invasion of Taiwan could happen anytime soon as the Chinese side is adamant on its demand for One-China policy as it believes that Taiwan is an integral part of China. Having said that, you would be surprised to note that the Chinese side have never governed any part of Taiwan so it will definitely be a challenge. However, there are small incidents that take place every now and then and one such incident has come to light.
It was reported last week that a Taiwanese soldier went missing from an island which is just 5 km away from China’s port city of Xiamen. Now, it has been confirmed that the Taiwanese soldier has been found in mainland China. While things are not clear just yet, it is possible that the soldier defected from Taiwan to China in highly unusual circumstances. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council minister Chiu Tai-san said, China had notified that a soldier surnamed Chen was currently in mainland China.
Chiu said that “The defense ministry and coast guard administration are actively understanding the relevant progress and situation,” and the Taiwanese Defense Ministry also has existing mechanisms to determine if the soldier would be identified as a deserter. While defections are not common nowadays, it used to be common in the earlier days and Chinese side was even known to reward these defectors with huge amount of cash because they bring sensitive and important information from the other side.
At low-tide, Taiwanese soldiers used to swim to the other side as the distance between China’s port city and Kinmen was just reduced to 2 km at that time. Currently, we haven’t heard about this incident from the Chinese side and it looks like a defection but we believe that there will be no announcement of money from the Chinese side nowadays due to the possible outcry amongst the public to reward the defectors. Taiwan have also said that they will try to bring back the soldier from the other side if and when possible.
