Taiwan detains Chinese nationals after subsea comms cable severed
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The news: Taiwan’s coastguard detained the crew of a Chinese cargo ship on Tuesday on suspicions that it was involved in cutting an undersea internet cable.
The context: Taiwan said that while it is unclear whether the cable had been severed intentionally, it cannot be excluded that this was an act of “Chinese greyzone harassment.”
Taiwan said it is investigating the incident, during which a vessel flying a “flag of convenience” was lingering near the cable in waters off the southwestern coast of Taiwan since Saturday evening, and did not respond to multiple broadcasts from Taiwan’s coast guard.
Shortly after the ship dropped anchor on Tuesday morning, Taiwan telecom company Chunghwa Telecom detected that the cable had been disconnected. The coastguard intercepted the ship and escorted it back to port in Tainan to proceed with the investigation.
The ship was registered in the African nation of Togo with Chinese funding, and was being crewed by eight Chinese nationals at the time of the incident. In January, Taipei launched a crackdown on a rapidly growing “shadow fleet” of Chinese-owned vessels that use flags of convenience to hide their identity, causing global security concerns.
The event is the latest in a series of cable-cutting incidents around Taiwan, where Chinese or Russian linked vessels have been involved in carrying out the damage.
The sources: Taiwan Coastguard statement, CNN
