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Taiwan: submarine cable severed, Chinese merchant ship detained
A fibre-optic cable in the Taiwan Strait was damaged, and a Togo-flagged merchant ship with a Chinese crew was detained. The investigation will have to clarify whether it was malicious or an accident.
During the night of today, 25 February, a submarine fibre-optic cable connecting Taiwan to the Penghu Islands was sheared off. The Taiwan Coast Guard, alerted by Chunghwa Telecom, intervened by seizing a Togo-flagged merchant ship with a Chinese crew, suspected of being involved in the damage. The cable was damaged in the early hours of the morning, and authorities are now investigating whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.
Suspicions of China and ‘grey area’ tactics
For the Taiwan Coast Guard, it cannot be ruled out that the incident may be part of ‘grey zone’ tactics, a strategy of hostile interference often attributed to China. The merchant ship, called Hong Tai, was anchored about six nautical miles from the port of Tainan at the time of the damage, and did not respond to the Taiwanese authorities’ attempts to communicate, either by radio or by on-board systems. The ship was then intercepted and escorted to the port of Anping, where it was seized.
Uncertain data and ongoing investigations
The situation becomes more complex with the conflicting data on the identification of the vessel. The crew radioed that they were aboard the vessel Hong Tai 168, but automatic identification systems reported the name Hong Tai 58. The ownership of the vessel is also unclear: according to the Taiwanese authorities, the vessel operates with Chinese capital. Investigations are still ongoing to verify the details and dynamics of the accident.
A precedent of similar incidents
This incident joins a series of similar incidents in the area. In January, a Cameroonian-flagged ship, the Chinese-owned Shunxing 39, was suspected of damaging another submarine cable northeast of Taiwan. In that case, Taiwanese authorities had failed to board the ship before it sailed away in the direction of South Korea. Also in February last year, two cables had been damaged near the Matsu Islands, with suspicions of Chinese ships.
Taiwan submarine vulnerability
The Guardian pointed out that submarine networks represent one of Taiwan’s main vulnerabilities to attacks by China, which considers the island a ‘rebel province’ to be ‘reunified’. To further complicate the situation, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence reported the presence of 12 Chinese aircraft and 14 military vessels, as well as a Coast Guard unit, in the vicinity of the island in recent hours. Two balloons were also sighted, raising further questions.
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