FEARS are mounting over potential Chinese sabotage after a deep sea cable was reportedly cut off the coast of Taiwan.
In the early hours of Friday, a telecommunications cable near Yehliu, New Taipei City was damaged, shortly after accusations of sabotage by Russia in the Baltic Sea.
It was first reported by Taiwanese telecoms operator Chunghwa Telecom before Taiwan’s Coast Guard was called in to investigate.
They discovered that four cores of the international cable had been mangled.
Officials believe the cable was cut near the busy port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast.
Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration attributed the damage to a Cameroon-registered cargo ship called the Shunxin 39.
Reports from the Financial Times indicated that tracking data from the ship’s automatic identification system signal and satellite data revealed that the Shunxing 39 had dragged its anchor close to the location where the cable was ruptured.
Officers reportedly hunted down the cargo ship and ordered it to return to the Port of Keelung.
The Coast Guard inspected the outside of the ship and had a brief conversation with the captain.
But officials couldn’t step on board it due to bad weather, according to reports.
They were forced to allow the vessel to leave for South Korea as they couldn’t hold it any longer under international law, officials said.
Despite the ship sailing under a Cameroonian flag, Taiwan officials believe it is owned by China.
It is believed to have been purchased by Jie Yang Trading Limited who are registered in Hong Kong.
The company’s only listed director is a mainland Chinese man called Guo Wenjie, officials added.
Taiwanese authorities are understood to be concerned that the move could be the start of secret operations to cut off external communications.
This could lead to the country being separated from the rest of the world and vulnerable to a Chinese invasion.
Beijing has constantly claimed sovereignty over the island has spent years threatening to seize it by any means necessary.
This is another case of a very worrying global trend of sabotage against subsea cables
Senior Taiwanese national security official
China’s president Xi Jinping has vowed to “reunify” with Taiwan – and continues to stage military exercises in the nearby waters.
A senior Taiwanese national security official said: “This is another case of a very worrying global trend of sabotage against subsea cables.
“The ships that are involved in these incidents are typically rundown vessels that have little above-the-board business.
“This one, too, is in very bad shape. It is similar to the ships that are part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’.”
Taiwan has now called for help from South Korea to help track down Shunxin 39 after the ship set off for the country after the incident.
Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China’s enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation.
A separate Coast Guard official said: “Since it was not possible for us to question the captain, we have asked the South Korean authorities to help with the investigation at the ship’s next port of destination.”
Chunghwa Telecom said the broken data connections were fixed by rerouting data to other international subsea cables.
The internet cable connects Taiwan with the US west coast and is owned by an international consortium which also involves AT&T, Japan’s NTT, Korea Telecom and Chinese operators China Telecom and China Unicom.
Last year, a Chinese bulk carrier was placed under investigation by Swedish authorities after two fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged.
Investigators suspected the Yi Peng 3 was responsible after tracking data showed it leaving the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15.
It comes just days after a Russian ship allegedly cut a key Finish power cable with its anchor.
The Russian vessel was accused of dragging its anchor on the seabed for dozens of miles.
The Estlink 2 power cable in the Gulf of Finland was ruptured along with four other communication lines in the suspected deliberate act of vandalism.
Officials believe the ship was a 751ft Eagle S part of Russia’s “shadow” or “dark” fleet operated by Putin to evade sanctions.
A Chinese vessel was also seen in the area at the time of the incident.
