China says ex-navy captain entering Taiwan acted on his own

A former navy captain arrested in Taiwan for illegal entry was acting of his own accord and would be punished if returned to China, Beijing said Wednesday, after Taipei raised spying suspicions.

Taiwan’s coast guard picked up the man on Sunday after his vessel collided with other boats on the Tamsui River, which flows from the self-ruled island’s capital Taipei to its northern coast.

The man -- who claimed he wanted to “defect” according to local news reports -- had served as a captain in the Chinese navy, Taiwan’s minister of ocean affairs said Tuesday, adding that he was among 18 purported defectors seen recently who claimed to admire Taiwan’s “democratic way of life and came for freedom”.