New Incident in the Strait: Taiwan Accuses China of Damaging Undersea Cable.

Taiwan claims that a Chinese vessel damaged an undersea cable off the northern coast of the island, temporarily disrupting communication. Taiwan has reached out to South Korea regarding the situation, seeking assistance.

On January 3, it became known that the vessel Shunxing39, registered under the flag of Cameroon, had damaged the undersea cable near the port of Kilung. This cable belongs to the Trans-Pacific Express undersea cable system.

Although Jie Yang Trading Limited, the company owning the vessel, is registered in Hong Kong, the ship's director is a Chinese citizen. Taiwan considers this incident part of China's strategy to sever the island's external communications.

Taiwan is concerned about possible disruption of communication, which could facilitate China's annexation of the island. Beijing asserts its rights to the island and threatens its capture by force.

'As the ship's captain did not provide any explanations, we turned to the South Korean authorities for help in the investigation after the vessel arrived at the next port,' said a representative of Taiwan's coast guard.

The Taiwan coast guard and other officials reference data from vessel identification and satellite systems indicating that the Shunxing39 vessel dropped anchor right where the cable was damaged.

A government official from Taiwan's National Security Service referred to this incident as part of a concerning global trend regarding sabotage against undersea cables. He also noted that vessels involved in such incidents are usually old and incapable of commercial operations.

According to MarineTraffic, vessel tracking and maritime analytics systems, the Shunxing39 crossed the northern coast of Taiwan on December 1. Its movements suggest that the cable damage was not accidental.

Occasionally, Chinese trading or fishing vessels participate in large military exercises conducted by Beijing near Taiwan.