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Taiwanese telecommunications company Chunghwa Telecom and the Taiwan Coast Guard reported last Saturday, January 4, that the Trans-Pacific High Speed Cable System, which connects Taiwan directly to the east coast of the United States, Japan, South Korea and China, was damaged by Typhoon Cameroon. -Flag cargo ship named Shunxing39. However, although the ship is registered in the West African country, Taiwanese officials say the cargo ship is owned by Jie Yang Trading Limited – a company registered in Hong Kong – and lists Guo Wenjie, a Chinese national, as its sole director. According to Financial Times a report.
Shungxing39’s tracking data showed that it had pulled its anchor at the site of the cable damage, and that it had also been operating near Taiwan’s northern waters since December. “This is another case of the very worrying global trend of submarine cable sabotage,” a senior Taiwanese citizen said. protection official. “The ships involved in these incidents are usually dilapidated vessels with little overt business. This is also in very poor condition. They resemble ships that are part of the Russian ‘shadow fleet.’” He also noted that the route taken by the suspected vessel Meaning this was an intentional act and not an accident.
The Taiwan Coast Guard conducted an external inspection of the Shungxing39 and spoke with its captain via radio. However, severe weather made it impossible to board the ship during the incident, and the country did not have time to seize it for further investigation. For this reason, Taiwan is requesting assistance from the South Korean authorities, as the ship’s next port of call is Busan.
This is the latest incident in several months where a vessel with questionable registration or ownership is suspected of intentionally cutting an undersea communications cable. The first was in November, when… Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 has reportedly cut two cables connecting Finland and Sweden to Central Europe.. Another incident occurred on December 25, when an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet was suspected. An undersea power and communications cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged.
Submarine cables are marked on most shipping charts to ensure that ships do not accidentally damage them when deploying their anchors. However, it appears that it has recently been used to deliberately target these vulnerable infrastructures, so NATO is planning to do just that Deploy marine drones to help monitor and protect these cables. Unfortunately, Taiwan is located on the other side of the globe, so it must find its own solution to this threat.
Defending its interests is far more important for the island nation as its larger neighbour, the People’s Republic of China, claims sovereignty over the entire island. The latter threatened to invade Taiwan to put it under its control by force, and one of the doors to any invasion is to cut off communications.
Aside from the physical act of cutting a major communications cable, Reuters It also reported that Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan’s government averaged about 2.4 million times per day, double the daily average in 2023. Taipei is concerned about these moves; Although it falls below the threshold of overt aggression and open attack, it would still make the island difficult to defend if China launched a full-scale invasion.
