China-linked shipowner denies Taiwan accusation of damaging undersea cable

8/1/2025 18:28

The Chinese director of a firm whose vessel Taiwan suspects of having damaged an undersea communications cable said on Wednesday there was no evidence the ship was involved, an incident that has alarmed the government in Taipei.



Taiwan's coast guard said it sent a ship to investigate a report on Friday from telecoms provider Chunghwa Telecom that an undersea communications cable had been damaged off the island's north coast.



Arriving at the scene it found the Chinese-crewed "Shunxin 39", registered both in Cameroon and Tanzania, which it requested to return to port in Taiwan for an investigation.



In a statement, the coast guard said bad weather kept it from boarding the ship for verification, but it "cannot rule out the possibility" the ship was engaged in "grey zone" activities. However it did not provide any direct evidence of this.



Taiwan has repeatedly complained about "grey zone" Chinese activities around the island, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation, such as balloon overflights and sand dredging.



Taiwan's digital ministry has said the sea cable was cut on Jan 3 but service was not affected after backup cables were activated.