Taiwan’s coast guard (CGA) detained the Chinese crew of a Togolese-registered vessel suspected of severing an undersea fiber optic cable connecting the islands of Taiwan and Penghu on Tuesday.
The CGA says the vessel, the Hong Tai 168, had been loitering within roughly 925 meters of the cable since 7 p.m. local time on Feb. 22. A coast guard vessel was dispatched to the ship at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, demanding that the vessel leave the area, Taiwan’s state-owned media said.
Coast guard officials received confirmation that the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 undersea cable had been cut at 3 a.m. Tuesday, and they began efforts to detain the ship’s Chinese crew. All eight crewmembers were Chinese nationals, according to the coast guard.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed that communications were diverted to other cables following the incident and that there was no disruption to service.
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The coast guard classified the incident as potential “gray zone” activity by China. The term refers to hostile actions that do not amount to an act of war.
Taiwan’s government says it will investigate the incident.
The incident comes roughly a week after Chinese officials expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s administration for removing language on the State Department’s website opposing Taiwan’s independence.
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Prior to Trump taking office, the State Department’s fact sheet on U.S. relations with Taiwan had previously stated “we do not support Taiwan independence,” but the phrase was removed earlier this month and continues to be absent. Chinese officials called on the U.S. to “immediately correct its wrongdoing,” on Sunday, arguing it “sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence forces.”
The State Department noted in a statement to NBC News that the U.S. stance on Taiwanese independence has not changed, however.
The U.S. has long held a delicate stance regarding Taiwan and its relation to the Chinese mainland. It has for decades followed the “One China” policy, in which the U.S. recognizes Beijing as the sole government of China, and acknowledges but does not affirm Beijing’s claim to control over Taiwan.
Part of this understanding requires the U.S. to not have any formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan, a policy reflected in the lack of a U.S. embassy on the island.
Nevertheless, the U.S. has funded Taiwan’s defense and worked with Western nations to prevent mainland China from taking over. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated that he is open to using military force to conquer the island.
Taiwan, which has its own democratically elected government, maintains that it is its own independent country. Taiwan first became a self-governed island after pro-democracy forces fled there in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong and his Chinese Communist Party.
