Taiwan’s coast guard reported on Monday ( Jan 6 ) that Taiwanese authorities are looking into a Hong Kong-owned cargo ship suspected of severing a subsea telecoms cable northeast of the island.
The beach watch seized the ship, which is under Cameroon’s flag, on Friday after Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom discovered injury to a deepwater cable.
The coast guard issued a statement ordering the vehicle, which is owned by a Hong Kong resident and had seven Chinese nationals on board, to return to waters off Keelung interface in northeastern Taiwan for inspection.
However, due to the rough seas and excessive waiting period before the ship could be held deeper, the coast guard staff were unable to board the ship, so it was allowed to sail for Busan, South Korea.
The coast guard reported that Taiwan has requested support from South Korean authorities with the ship’s exploration. The ship also sails under African flag with two sets of automated identification program signals.
The coast guard claimed that” the ship’s real intentions have not yet been revealed” through an examination of its historic path.
” Yet, the possibility of a Chinese-flag of pleasure send engaging in grey-zone abuse may become ruled out”, it said, referring to methods that fall short of an act of war.
Taiwan is considered to be part of China’s country, and it has threatened to use force to take it under its control.
Beijing has increased military force on Taipei in recent years because it fears that China might cut off communication with the island as part of an attempt to acquire it.
Chunghwa’s telecoms company immediately returned to normal on Friday after it activated a back-up system, the semi-official Central News Agency said.