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The Taiwanese Coast Guard (CGA) has detained the crew of a Chinese vessel that is suspected of having damaged an undersea fibre-optic cable between the islands of Taiwan and Penghu. This was reported by Fox News.
What happened?
According to the CGA, the Hong Tai 168 was spotted on 22 February at 19:00 local time in an area 925 metres from the cable. At 2:30am, the coastguard sent a ship to the incident site to force the vessel to leave the area. However, half an hour later, it was confirmed that the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 cable had been damaged.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Technology assured that the traffic was promptly rerouted to other communication lines, so communication was not affected.
“Grey zone or sabotage?
The Taiwanese Coast Guard considers this incident in the context of so-called “grey operations” China’s “grey operations” – actions that, although hostile, do not qualify as an act of war.
In recent years, cases of damage to submarine cables have been reported more frequently. In particular, similar incidents have occurred in the Baltic Sea, prompting NATO to increase its military presence in the region due to fears of possible Russian sabotage.
Tensions between the US, Taiwan and China
The cable incident took place against the backdrop of a new deterioration in relations between Washington and Beijing. Last week, China reacted sharply to a change in the wording on the US State Department’s official website.
- The phrase has disappeared: “The United States does not support Taiwan’s independence”.
- Beijing called it a “mistake” and demanded that it be corrected immediately.
At the same time, Washington claims that its position has not changed: The United States supports the “one China” policy, recognising Beijing as the official government of the country, but does not approve of the forced takeover of Taiwan.
The United States currently does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, but it is actively funding the island’s defence and working with allies to counter China’s growing military threat.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated that he is ready to use military force to take control of Taiwan.
The cable incident is yet another element in the chain of escalation that is bringing Taiwan closer to a new round of tension with China.
