TimesAsiaNews.com | Taipei – Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said Taiwan would deploy its navy if needed to assist the coast guard in responding to suspicious activity around underwater communications cables.
This statement was made after a ship allegedly linked to China reportedly damaged one of the cables in Taiwanese waters.
Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory, stated that a ship belonging to a Hong Kong company, but registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, damaged a cable north of the island earlier this month. However, Taiwan has not been able to confirm the ship’s intentions and cannot board it due to bad weather conditions.
The shipowners denied their involvement in the incident, while the Chinese government accused Taiwan of making accusations without clear evidence.
This incident is a serious concern for Taiwan, especially since the country often complains about China’s “gray zone” activities around its territory.
These activities are considered aimed at exerting pressure without triggering direct confrontations, such as hot air balloon flights and sand dredging.
In a press conference in parliament, as quoted kontan.co.id, on Thursday (1/16), Minister Koo confirmed that Taiwan’s armed forces will cooperate with the coast guard to monitor the area around the submarine cable.
“When something happens, the coast guard will move first. If needed, the navy will immediately provide assistance,” he said.
Taiwan’s National Security Bureau director-general, Tsai Ming-yen, said the government had activated a cooperation mechanism with “international partners” to share information related to China’s “gray zone” maritime activities. However, he did not elaborate on the mechanism.
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According to Tsai, Taiwan’s attention will be focused on practical flagged ships, ships registered in other countries but owned by certain parties, and how China might utilize those vessels in the waters around Taiwan. The Taiwanese government, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, compared the situation to the incident of damage to submarine cables in the Baltic Sea that occurred after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Taiwan revealed that Chinese vessels using the flag were practically showing “indications of crime.” (**)
