Taiwan's coast guard detained a Chinese-linked cargo vessel, the "Hong Tai," on suspicion of severing an international undersea cable off the island's northern coast. The ship, registered in Togo and funded by Chinese interests, had been hovering near the cable in waters off Taiwan's southwestern coast since Saturday evening. Despite repeated attempts to communicate, the coast guard received no response from the vessel. This incident has heightened concerns about potential "gray zone" activities that could disrupt Taiwan's internet and communications with the global community.
With more than 95% of global internet traffic reliant on undersea cables, any damage to this network poses significant risks. An estimated 1.3 million kilometers of undersea cabling supports approximately $10 trillion dollars of international trade daily. Taiwan's telecom company, Chunghwa Telecom, identified the cable disconnection shortly after the "Hong Tai" dropped anchor, prompting immediate action from the authorities.
The Taiwanese coast guard detained the cargo ship, crewed by eight Chinese nationals and operating under a "flag of convenience," escorting it back to Tainan for further investigation. The possibility of a deliberate "gray zone operation" orchestrated by Beijing cannot be dismissed, according to Taiwanese authorities. Such operations are increasingly concerning for Taiwan, which has faced mounting pressure from China, as Beijing continues to assert its claim over the self-ruled democracy.
"Whether it was an intentional act of sabotage or purely an accident needs to be further probed,"
— The coast guard
This incident is not isolated. Multiple undersea telecom cables around Taiwan have experienced suspicious damage in recent years. In 2023, Taiwan officials attributed two significant disruptions to cables connecting Taiwan's main island to its outlying Matsu islands to Chinese ships. These incidents caused substantial internet blackouts, raising alarms over security and communication vulnerabilities.
The issue of undersea cable damage is not unique to Taiwan. Recently, two high-profile incidents in the Baltic Sea involving Chinese vessels have also drawn international attention and remain under investigation. Such events underscore the strategic importance of undersea cables in global trade and communication.
