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The Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) arrested the Chinese crew of a vessel registered to Togoles suspected of cutting an underwater optical fiber cable that connects the Taiwan and Penghu islands on Tuesday.
The CGA says that the ship, the Hong Tai 168, had been meriting less than 925 meters from the cable from 7 pm local time on February 22. A Coast Guard ship was sent to the ship at 2:30 am, demanding that the ship leave the area, the state media of Taiwan said.
The Coast Guard officials received confirmation that the Taiwan-Penghu submarine cable No. 3 had been cut at 3 in the morning on Tuesday, and the efforts began to stop the Chinese crew of the ship. The eight crew members were Chinese nationals, According to the Coast Guard.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed that communications deviated to other cables after the incident and that there were no interruptions in the service.
Two staff of the Taiwan Coast Guard addresses a cargo ship with Togo flag to carry out the inspection on February 25, 2025. (Taiwan Coast Guard / Brochure / Anadolu through Getty Images)
The Coast Guard classified the incident as a possible “gray zone” activity of China. The term refers to hostile actions that are not equivalent to an act of war.
The Taiwan government says it will investigate the incident.
The incident occurs approximately one week after Chinese officials expressed their frustration with the administration of President Donald Trump to eliminate language on the website of the State Department that opposes Taiwan’s independence.
Before Trump assumed the position, the informative sheet of the State Department in United States relations with Taiwan He had previously declared “we did not support Taiwan’s independence,” but the phrase was eliminated earlier this month and It is still absent. Chinese officials asked the United States to “immediately correct their deceased”, on Sunday, arguing that “sends an incorrect signal to Taiwan’s independence forces.”
However, the State Department indicated in a statement to NBC News that the US position on Taiwanese independence has not changed.
Taiwan’s coast guard says that Tuesday’s incident can be a “gray zone” action of China. (Taiwan Coast Guard / Brochure / Anadolu through Getty Images)
The United States has had a delicate position with respect to Taiwan and its relationship with the Chinese continent. For decades he has followed the “One China” policy, in which the United States recognizes Beijing as the only government in China, and recognizes, but does not affirm Beijing’s statement to control Taiwan.
Part of this understanding requires that the United States not have any formal diplomatic link with Taiwan, a policy reflected in the lack of an United States embassy on the island.
However, the United States has funded Taiwan’s defense and worked with Western nations to prevent continental China from taking over. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has repeatedly declared that he is open to use the military force to conquer the island.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly declared that China will not rule out to conquer Taiwan by force. (Getty)
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Taiwan, who has his own democratically chosen government, argues that it is its own independent country. Taiwan first became a self -governor island after the prodemocratic forces fled there in 1949 after losing a civil war against Mao Zedong and his Chinese communist party.
