Taiwan's coast guard has detained a China-linked cargo ship after a nearby undersea cable to the Penghu Islands in the sensitive Taiwan Strait was disconnected.
The coast guard said it dispatched three vessels to detain the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58, which is registered in Togo, after it received an alert that the Taiwan-Penghu Third Undersea Cable had been severed.
Crews boarded the cargo ship after it was found anchored and stranded around the time the cable was disconnected.
It is suspected the ship towed the submarine cable but an investigation is ongoing.
The case was being handled with the highest national security level, the coast guard said, and was under the command of the Tainan District Prosecutor's Office for investigation.
Communications between Taiwan and other offshore islands, including Penghu, were not affected after services were redirected to other cables, the digital ministry said.
Taipei was alarmed after a Chinese-linked ship was suspected of damaging another cable earlier this year, prompting the navy and other agencies to step up efforts to protect undersea communication links.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has repeatedly complained about "grey zone" Chinese activities around the island that are designed to pressure it without direct confrontation.
Ship stranded for days The coast guard said the vessel it detained was a Chinese-linked ship carrying a flag of convenience, meaning it was registered to a country other than that of its owner.
"All eight crew members are Chinese nationals and [we] do not rule out the possibility of the Chinese activity of grey-zone harassment," the coast guard said in a statement, adding that further investigation was needed.
The Taiwanese coast guard said the vessel was stranded 6 nautical miles (11 kilometres) north-west of the Jiangjun Fishing Port from February 22 to 25.
During that time, the coast guard notified the Anping Port Signal Station to broadcast to the vessel seven times but received no response.
"The appearance of the ship's side was "Hongtai 168," it said.
"After communicating with the ship by radio, it was replied that the ship was Hongtai 168, but the AIS showed "Hongtai 58".
The coast guard said after coordinating with the Maritime and Port Bureau to provide a ship seat, the vessel was escorted back to the Anping Port.
The coast guard said it received "Chunghwa Telecom's initial judgement that it was suspected of external damage".
Further investigation was needed to determine whether the disruption of the submarine cable was caused by intentional sabotage or a simple accident, according to the coast guard.
"It cannot be ruled out that it was a grey-area intrusion operation by China," it said.
Ongoing undersea cable incidents in the region Taiwan has reported five cases of sea cable malfunctions this year, compared with three each in 2024 and 2023, according to the digital ministry.
In 2023, two undersea cables connecting the Matsu islands were cut, disconnecting the internet. Taiwanese authorities said two Chinese vessels caused the disruption but that there was no evidence to prove Beijing deliberately tampered with the cables.
In January, an undersea cable off the north-east coast of Taiwan was damaged, and authorities said a Cameroonian-registered cargo ship was the likely culprit.
That ship, the Shunxin-39, is owned by a Hong Kong-based entity with ties to mainland China, according to the Taiwan Coast Guard.
Ho Cheng-hui, chief executive of Taiwanese non-profit civil defence organisation Kuma Academy, said the incident was part of a broader strategy by China to test the limits of international tolerance through grey-zone tactics, according to the Taipei Times.
"China has a history of targeting Taiwan's infrastructure to probe international responses," he said.
In the Baltic Sea, numerous undersea cables have been damaged in recent months, with some believing this is a form of Russian sabotage and a form of shadow warfare.
[Source: ABC News]
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