TAIPEI: A Taiwanese Buddhist leader on Tuesday urged Taipei to pardon World Bank chief economist Justin Lin, who as a young military officer in the late 1970s defected to China by swimming to the mainland.

Lin, who also serves as senior vice president at the lender, last month reiterated his hopes of returning to Taiwan, where he was born, despite still being wanted over the escape.

Taiwan's defence ministry has repeatedly said that Lin remains a “lawbreaker” and would be arrested and tried should he ever return. In theory, he could face the death penalty if tried and convicted.

However, master Hsing Yun, head of the influential Buddhist organisation Fo Guang Shan, called on the government to pardon Lin on the grounds of “humanitarianism, mercy and forgiveness”.

“I hope he can be forgiven by (Taiwanese) society so he can return to his family. After all Taiwan is a progressing democratic society and we should treat the matter with a broader mind,” Hsing Yun said.

Lin was a 26-year-old company commander in the Taiwan military stationed on Kinmen island near the Chinese mainland when in 1979 he swam the 2,000 metres (yards) to the communist side.

He arrived in China at the dawn of its opening up under Deng Xiaoping and played a key role in the country's economic modernisation before taking up his international career.

For many years Lin was not officially listed as a defector but as “missing”, as his flight was considered an embarrassment.

However in 2002 he was put on a wanted list after he applied to return to Taiwan for his father's funeral.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war but Beijing still claims the island as part of its territory awaiting unification, by force if necessary.