TAIPEI: Taiwan detained a Chinese-crewed cargo ship on Tuesday ( Feb 25 ) after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the island, the coast guard said.
The Togolese-registered send Hongtai was “escorted” up to Taiwan and the situation was being “handled in accordance with federal security-level rules”, the coast guard said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the wire between Taiwan and Penghu, a tactical island group in the delicate Taiwan Strait, was disconnected early on Tuesday.
The coast guard said that more research will help determine whether the cause of the undersea cable damage was intentional destroy or a simple incident.
The fleet was using a symbol of pleasure, was crewed by eight Chinese citizens and had Chinese cash, it said.
The coast guard made reference to activities that do not qualify as acts of war, saying,” It cannot be ruled out that it was a dark area intrusion by China.”
The Coast Guard does work with the prosecution to find the truth in every way possible.