Special monitoring zones would be established around undersea cables to prevent possible “gray zone” tactics by China, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The Shunxing-39, a Cameroon-flagged cargo vessel, on Monday last week allegedly damaged an undersea cable off northern Taiwan by dragging its anchor over it.
Colonel Hu Chung-hua (胡中華) said ministry officials have met with Coast Guard Administration (CGA) representatives and other agencies to collaborate on potential preventive action and intelligence sharing.
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
Colonel Lee Chang-fu (李昌富) said the ministry would establish special monitoring zones in Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城), New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts, Penghu County and Pingtung County’s Fangshan Township (枋山).
Suspicious ships loitering near these areas would be reported to the CGA for investigation, Lee said, adding that the navy would dispatch ships to assist CGA operations if the latter makes such a request.
The ministry is aware of the possibility of a large-scale sabotage of undersea cables and has set up multiple networks to prevent a communications blackout, Colonel Lei Yung-chi (雷詠淇) said.
The National Security Bureau in a report submitted to the Legislative Yuan ahead of a Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting today said that undersea cable destruction incidents — which have occurred seven to eight times in Taiwan over the past three years — showed that information network resilience and the establishment of backup communication methods were critical national security issues.
Ships flying flags of convenience are entitled to claim “innocent passage” under international law, but such behaviors have become a method that foreign powers use to threaten Taiwan, it said.
Patrols should prioritize the maritime zones near undersea cable landing stations, it said.
Ships flying flags of convenience of countries with a history of falsifying their customs reports should be prioritized for inspections, the agency said.
CGA officers should board and inspect the Maritime Mobile Service Identity and automatic identification systems of such ships once they are within 24 nautical miles (44km) of Taiwan, near the special monitoring zones or have asked to enter Taiwanese ports, it said.
Separately, the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) said it is adopting policies to reinforce communications resilience throughout the country.
Efforts would include asking industry owners to conduct risk assessment reports, establish security protocols, increase the number of undersea cables and cable landing stations, and establish server rooms for additional redundancy, the MODA said.
The ministry has set up 773 non-geostationary orbit ground stations, 700 of which would help ensure Taiwan’s command structure retains its communications capability if undersea cables or microwave telecommunications are severed, the MODA said.
Additional reporting by Wu Che-yu
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