Taiwan’s coast guard detained a cargo ship and its Chinese crew on Tuesday, investigating whether the vessel intentionally damaged an undersea internet cable. The cable connects Taiwan to its outlying Penghu Islands and is the latest potential breach of the island’s communication lines.
The ship in question, named “Hong Tai,” flew a “flag of convenience” and was crewed by eight Chinese nationals. A “flag of convenience” refers to a ship that flies the flag of a country other than the country of its ownership. The vessel, registered in Togo but funded by China, had been hovering near the cable in waters off Taiwan’s southwestern coast since Saturday evening. It ignored multiple calls from Taiwan’s coast guard, according to their statement.
On Tuesday morning, after the ship dropped anchor, Taiwan’s telecom company, Chunghwa Telecom, noticed the cable was disconnected. The coast guard intercepted and boarded the vessel, escorting it to the port city of Tainan for further investigation.
Taiwanese officials have not ruled out the possibility of a Chinese “gray zone operation,” which refers to actions that are coercive but fall below the level of war. Authorities are probing whether the cable damage was an act of sabotage or an accident. The case is now under investigation by prosecutors following national security protocols.
In recent years, several undersea cables around Taiwan have been damaged under suspicious circumstances. Earlier this year, Taiwanese authorities suggested a Chinese-linked cargo vessel may have severed an international undersea cable off the island’s northern coast. In 2023, Taiwan officials blamed Chinese ships for damaging cables between the island and its Matsu Islands, causing internet blackouts. They stopped short of confirming the incidents were deliberate.
The incidents have raised concerns among Taiwanese officials about “gray zone” activities that could disrupt the island’s internet and communication systems with the rest of the world.
These worries come as Taiwan faces growing pressure from Beijing, which views the self-governing democracy as part of its territory and has pledged to take control, even by force if necessary.
The concerns also follow a series of incidents in recent years involving damage to undersea infrastructure, including communication cables. Two prominent cases in the Baltic Sea are currently under investigation, where Chinese vessels were linked to the damage.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted that over 95% of global internet traffic is transmitted through undersea cables, with approximately 1.3 million kilometers of cable supporting around $10 trillion in international trade every day.
