By The Straits Times | Created at 2025-01-08 13:42:47 | Updated at 2025-01-09 12:09:50
22 hours ago
BEIJING - China on Jan 8 accused Taiwan’s ruling party of having “deliberately hyped” an incident in which a Chinese-owned ship was suspected of damaging a subsea telecoms cable.
Taiwanese authorities this week said they were investigating a Chinese-owned cargo ship suspected of dragging its anchor over an international subsea telecoms cable north-east of the island.
“DPP authorities have... out of thin air deliberately hyped the subsea cable incident as a so-called ‘grey-zone threat’ from the mainland, fully showing they will not let go of unscrupulous ‘anti-China counter-China’ tricks,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua as saying, referring to the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The Cameroon-flagged Shunxing39 was intercepted by Taiwan’s coast guard on Jan 3 after Chunghwa Telecom reported damage to a subsea cable that is part of the Trans-Pacific Express Cable System.
Coast guard personnel were unable to board the ship due to rough seas and it was allowed to sail for South Korea.
“An analysis of the ship’s historical trajectory has yet to reveal its true intent”, Taiwan’s coast guard said on Jan 7.
“However, the possibility of a Chinese-flag of convenience ship engaging in grey-zone harassment cannot be ruled out”, it added, referring to tactics that fall short of an act of war.
Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Mr Chen dismissed the allegations, saying damage to subsea cables was “a common maritime occurrence” with “more than a hundred incidents” in the world each year.
A senior Taiwan coast guard official said the captain of the Shunxing39 told them the ship had been “dragging anchor”, but Taiwanese authorities had no “clear evidence” to prove the vessel had damaged the cable.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei, which fears China could attempt to sever communication links to the island. AFP
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