Ex-Army officer held by China over fishing trip released

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) A former Taiwanese Army officer, who was rescued by the Chinese Coast Guard in mid-March during a fishing trip and detained in China since then, returned to Kinmen County Wednesday.

The man surnamed Hu (胡), who was discharged from the military while in Chinese detention on May 8, arrived in Kinmen on a cross-strait ferry from the Chinese city of Xiamen around 11:00 a.m.

Hu was accompanied by his family and Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍), an opposition Kuomintang (KMT) legislator representing Kinmen County.

Asked about his time in China, Hu said he lived well as the Chinese Coast Guard provided him with substantial care, including a health check-up.

Hu said that, for now, he has no plans to re-enlist and will focus on spending time with his family.

However, Hu said he would still like to go fishing under safe conditions, as the incident was an accident.

Hu and another man, surnamed Wu (吳), were detained by Chinese authorities after they lost their way during a fishing trip on March 17 and were rescued by the Chinese coast guard the next day.

Wu and the fishing boat were handed over to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) by Chinese officials on March 23.

But Hu remained in detention due to "doubts about his identity," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

A Xinhua report on Wednesday disclosed the full names of Hu and Wu and noted that Hu returned to Kinmen after "the relevant authorities concluded their investigation procedures on him."

Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, expressed relief regarding the release of Hu at a seminar on Tuesday, saying that the council had always hoped for Hu's prompt return to Taiwan without any conditions.

Chen told reporters Wednesday that Hu's detention in China was mainly due to the tense cross-strait relations following the Kinmen speedboat incident, which left two Chinese nationals dead on Feb. 14, coupled with Hu's sensitive status as an active-duty soldier at the time.

After a successful resolution of the Kinmen speedboat incident on July 30, the "goodwill" accumulated between Kinmen and Xiamen authorities led to Hu's return, the KMT lawmaker said, expressing thanks to the Chinese authorities, including China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Chen noted that the short distance between Kinmen and Xiamen, which lie less than 10 kilometers from each other at certain points, often leads to similar maritime rescues.

Therefore, the two regions should establish closer contacts to ensure such emergencies are easily resolved, Chen said.