Taiwan detains China-crewed ship after undersea cable cut
Taiwanese officials say the vessel, which had a Chinese crew but was flying a Togolese flag, had been lingering in waters close to the damaged underwater cable. It’s the fifth such incident this year alone.
Taiwanese coast guard vessels attending to the Togolese-flagged, Chinese-crewed cargo ship
Taiwanese coast guard vessels detained the Togolese-flagged, Chinese-crewed cargo shipImage: Küstenwache Taiwans/dpa/picture alliance
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The Taiwanese coast guard on Tuesday detained a cargo ship with a Chinese crew and escorted it to Taiwan after an underwater telecommunications cable was found to have been damaged.
“The cause of the underwater cable break, whether it was due to intentional sabotage or simply an accident, is still pending further investigation for clarification,” the coast guard said in a statement.
“All eight crew members are Chinese nationals and [we] are not ruling out the possibility of grey zone harassment,” it added.
“Grey zone” is how Taiwan refers to activities which it says China carries out to apply pressure without engaging in direct confrontation, such as sending weather balloons over its territory or sand dredging in its waters.
