TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese soldier who went missing from a frontline island in Kinmen County on Thursday (March 9) was reportedly found and rescued by the Chinese Coast Guard.

The 26-year-old soldier, surnamed Chen (陳), was stationed on Erdan Island in Kinmen and failed to report during rollcall on Thursday, causing speculation that he may have deserted and swum to China. On Friday (March 10), UDN reported that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) acknowledged that a man had been rescued by the Coast Guard and was taken immediately to a hospital.



A legislator representing Kinmen, Jessica Chen (陳玉珍), made a video press release on Friday afternoon addressing the missing soldier. She said the soldier was suffering from psychological problems and that it was a simple case of desertion and that he should not be considered a communist.

The TAO office has not yet confirmed the identity of the person who was rescued. However, Jessica Chen indicated that the soldier was wearing a life jacket and totally exhausted when he was discovered by a Chinese Coast Guard patrol boat not far from the tiny island of Sandan, about halfway between Erdan and the coast of Fujian.

As a representative of Kinmen, Chen said she is prepared to coordinate with the Chinese side to resolve the issue. She also called on the central government to pay more attention to the condition of frontline soldiers and do more to ensure their morale and psychological health.

UDN also reported that the county executive of Kinmen, Chen Fu-hai (陳福海), has made efforts to resolve the issue. He reportedly asked the Kinmen Red Cross to make inquiries with their counterpart in Fujian to inquire about the medical condition and location of the young soldier.