Taiwan holds charging ship linked to China

In a statement, the Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) said the ship involved, named Hong Tai, had a Togo flag and was registered as a “convenience ship with ties to Chinese capital.”

Convenience flag vessels are those that operate under a different flag from that of its owners’ country, which is sometimes interpreted as an indication of illicit activities.

“All eight crew members on board are Chinese citizens. The possibility that the incident is related to ‘gray zone’ actions by China cannot be discarded,” said CGA, adding that it is still investigating if the cable cut Submarine “was intentional or an accident”.

At a press conference, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, refused to comment on the case. “I’m not familiar with this subject. It’s not a matter related to Chinese diplomacy,” Lin said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred around 3 am on Tuesday (4 pm on Monday in Brasilia), when CGA received a report from Chungwha Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications company, indicating that the third submarine line that connects Taiwan connects The Fisherman Islands had broken about 11 kilometers northwest of the port of Jiangjun, in the south of the island.

According to CGA, Hong Tai was anchored in this same position, located a few kilometers north of the third submarine route since the night of February 22.

“During this period, the Coast Guard monitored the situation and issued seven evacuation alerts through the signaling station in the port of Anping (southern Taiwan), but no response was received,” said the official statement.

After receiving a preliminary assessment of Chungwha Telecom on possible “external damage” by the cable, the Coast Guard began interception of Hong Tai, an operation that required the collaboration of three vessels.

The incident occurred almost two months after the alleged sabotage of another submarine cable located in northeastern Taiwan by a cargo ship, the Shunxin 39, which was registered in Cameroon and also in Tanzania and was owned by Hong Kong.

As a result, the Taiwan National Security Department (NSB) promised to strengthen control mechanisms on convenience flag ships, designating alert zones in areas near the submarine cable connection points to “prioritize their vigilance”.

Currently, Taiwan has 14 international and 10 national submarine cables, according to the NSB, which estimated that the island is an average of seven to eight cable cut incidents per year.

The island authorities consider submarine cable cutting part of the “gray zone” activities carried out by China to press the Taiwanese government, currently led by William Lai, considered by Beijing authorities a “independence activist” and one “” Brain “.