“COMMON ACCIDENTS”
In a written statement sent to Reuters late on Wednesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said globally there were more than 100 such incidents of damage to undersea cables a year and they are “common maritime accidents”.
With the facts still unclear, Taiwan is making accusations “out of thin air” and intentionally hyping up the “so-called grey zone threat from the mainland”, it added, without directly saying whether the ship in question was involved or not.
Taiwan, which strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims, says communications were unaffected by the cable damage.
Responding to Guo’s comments, Taiwan’s coast guard said it was not yet able to gauge the ship’s “real intention” from tracking data.
The vessel had lingered in the waters just off Taiwan’s north since early December until its transmitting signal was turned off on Jan 3, shipping data showed.
Guo declined to specify why the ship had remained in the area, or the purpose of the voyage, but said the Taiwan authorities had only sought details of its GPS movements.
“I don’t understand why there has been so much news about this,” Guo said. “The ship had dropped anchor, so it had stopped in the nearby waters.
“We followed the rules and normal procedures. If not, then Taiwan would have investigated and detained us.”
The incident has alarmed Taiwan’s security officials, who are set to brief Taipei-based diplomats on the matter this week, say sources familiar with the matter.
“We must inform everyone that such behaviour doesn’t just affect Taiwan. It could also hit international communications,” a senior Taiwan security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one.
“It is relevant to the interests of many countries.”
Taiwan has been particularly nervous about the vulnerability of undersea communications cables following incidents of complaints by Baltic Sea nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Last month, Taiwan’s Presidential Office held its first “tabletop” exercise involving government agencies beyond the armed forces, simulating scenarios such as a military escalation with China and severed international sea links, officials said.
In 2023, two undersea cables with the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, which sit close to the Chinese coast, were cut, disconnecting their 14,000 residents from the internet.
Authorities said at the time initial findings showed a Chinese fishing vessel and a Chinese freighter caused the disruption, but there was no evidence Beijing deliberately tampered with the cables.
In recent years, Taiwan has worked to beef up its capacity to cope with emergencies from disasters to military conflict, including alternative communications such as satellites if its international sea cables are cut.
Source: CNA
