A little more than a month after critical undersea telecommunications cables were severed in the Baltic Sea region, reportedly by a Chinese vessel, a similar incident has unfolded just days into the new year—this time off Taiwan's northern coast.
Taiwan English News reported that four core subsea telecom cables were damaged off the coast in Yehliu, New Taipei City, on Friday.
Chunghwa Telecom operates the $500 million Trans-Pacific Express cable network via a joint venture between six telecom companies, including China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom, and Verizon Communications.
The cable connects East Asia to the US West Coast.
According to Taiwan's National Coast Guard Administration, the Chinese vessel suspected of cutting the subsea cable just north of Taiwan is "Shunxin 39." It's a Cameroon-registered cargo ship.
EurAsian Times noted that Shunxin 39 is registered in Cameroon and belongs to Jie Yang Trading Limited, a Hong Kong-based company headed by Guo Wenjie, a Chinese national.
Chunghwa Telecom has since reported that data disruptions were restored by rerouting traffic to other international subsea cables.
As for the vessel, a Taiwan Coast Guard official told the Financial Times, "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."
The latest undersea cable-cutting incident further heightens concerns of potential sabotage by agents of China and or Russia, raising alarms about hybrid warfare tactics targeting Western telecommunication infrastructure worldwide.
"This is another case of a very worrying global trend of sabotage against subsea cables," said a senior Taiwanese national security official, adding, "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.'"