TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A series of undersea cable disruptions off Taiwan's coast has raised alarms, with at least five incidents reported this year. The latest incident occurred on Tuesday (Feb. 25), when the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 cable was allegedly severed by the Chinese-crewed "Hong Tai 58" (宏泰58) vessel, sparking concerns about potential gray zone operations by China.
Taiwan has 10 domestic undersea cables, labeled as critical infrastructure (CI) by the Executive Yuan. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 陸委會) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) emphasized the government's duty to protect these essential facilities, stating, "It (China) damaged our undersea cables. It is the government's responsibility to take action."
The National Security Bureau (NSB, 國家安全局) reported that, on average, 7 to 8 cable breaks occur annually around Taiwan, caused by factors such as cable aging, sand dredging by those from China, large vessels anchoring, and fishing trawlers.
Regarding the latest case, Coast Guard Administration's (CGA, 海巡署) Offshore Flotilla 4 (Tainan) Commander Chien Jih-cheng (簡日成) noted discrepancies in the vessel's Automatic Identification System (AIS) number and name, stressing that the Tainan District Prosecutors Office (台南地檢署) aims to clarify the incident's circumstances.
