Chinese Vessel Damages Cable Off Taiwan's Coast

This is beyond an ordinary incident.

The Taiwanese Coast Guard detained a cargo ship belonging to China on Tuesday, 25 February. The reason was the loss of signal in the underwater cable leading to the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait.

This is reported by Reuters.

The Coast Guard said it sent three vessels to detain the Chinese Hong Tai 58 vessel, registered in Togo. The ship anchored near an offshore cable off Taiwan's southwestern coast around the same time it was disconnected.

According to the Coast Guard, it is a China-linked vessel, flying a flag of convenience. This indicates that it is registered in a country other than that of its owner.

‘All eight crew members are Chinese nationals, and (we) do not rule out the possibility of harassment by China in the grey zone,’ the Coast Guard said in a statement. The agency added that further investigation was needed.

Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Technology said communications services had been diverted to other cables between Taiwan and other offshore islands, notably the Penghu archipelago.

A senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the government was treating the incident as a national security issue.

‘This goes beyond an ordinary incident,’ the official said.

He said the Hong Tai 58 had been in waters southwest of Taiwan since Saturday and had failed to respond to repeated calls from the coastguard.

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