Taiwan seizes Chinese-crewed ship after subsea cable is cut
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The seized Togolese-registered, Chinese-manned ship Hongtai in Penghu, Taiwan.
PHOTO: AFP
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TAIPEI – Taiwan seized a Chinese-crewed cargo ship on Feb 25 after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the island.
It is the latest in a series of Taiwanese undersea cable breakages, with previous incidents blamed on natural causes or Chinese ships.
Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom reported that the cable between Penghu, a strategic island group in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan was disconnected early on Feb 25, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
The Togolese-registered ship Hongtai was “escorted” back to Taiwan, and the case was being “handled in accordance with national security-level principles”, Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement.
“Whether the cause of the undersea cable breakage was intentional sabotage or a simple accident remains to be clarified by further investigation,” the coast guard said.
The Hongtai, using a flag of convenience, was crewed by eight Chinese nationals and had Chinese funding, it said.
Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt to seize the island or blockade it.
“It cannot be ruled out that it was a grey-zone intrusion by China,” the coast guard said, referring to actions that fall short of an act of war.
“The coast guard will cooperate with the prosecutors in the investigation and make every effort to clarify the truth,” it said.
Members of the crew were still being questioned by prosecutors on Feb 25 evening, a coast guard official told AFP.
China’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware” of the situation.
Flags of convenience allow shipping companies to register their vessels in countries with which they have no link – for a fee and freedom from oversight.
High strategic value
Taiwan has 14 international underwater cables and 10 domestic ones.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs ordered Chunghwa Telecom to transfer voice communications and internet services for Penghu to other undersea cables.
The world’s data and communications are carried across oceans by great bundles of subsea fibre-optic cables – with their high strategic value making them potential targets for attack.
There is growing concern in Taiwan over the security of its cables after a Chinese-owned cargo ship was suspected of severing
Separately, two ageing subsea cables serving Taiwan’s Matsu archipelago stopped functioning
In February 2023, two subsea telecom lines serving Matsu were cut within days of each other, disrupting communications for weeks. Locals and Taipei officials suspected that Chinese fishing vessels or sand dredgers, which often drop anchor or scrape the seabed in Taiwanese waters, may have been responsible.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience from Mongolia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Togo and Sierra Leone for close monitoring, the coast guard said in January.
The stricter regime involves watching for anomalies in a ship’s automatic identification system operation and fake vessel names.
Vessels suspected of loitering or anchoring near subsea cables will be warned by radio to leave the area, and boarding inspections are carried out when needed. AFP
