Taiwan’s coastguard says it ‘cannot be ruled out that it was a grey zone intrusion by China’

Summary

Taiwan’s coastguard detained a Togolese-flagged cargo ship with a Chinese crew after an undersea communications cable connecting Taiwan to Penghu was cut.

Authorities suspect a possible “grey zone” act—hostile interference short of warfare—by China but have not ruled out an accident.

The ship, which initially ignored radio contact, was intercepted and escorted to port. Taiwan has been monitoring Chinese-linked vessels under flags of convenience due to previous cable damage incidents.

Chunghwa Telecom activated a backup cable, preventing communication disruptions.

  • @[email protected]English
    0•2 days ago

    You can drag an anchor when you’re trying to stay still and the anchor just isn’t, well, anchored; my understanding is that bad weather can cause that.

    But some of the above incidents I listed are ships that have their anchor released and are just continuing to sail along while apparently unaware of the fact that they’re hauling an anchor right through the submarine cables that they cross. Like, they aren’t victims of bad weather+bad luck. They’re just screwing up.

    • ms.laneEnglish
      3•1 day ago

      So they should pay for it, with jail time if need be.

      Negligence isn’t an excuse, it’s a crime.