The US Department of State has expressed concern over the recent severance of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea and near Taiwan, urging all sides involved to collaborate with investigators.
The US is closely following reports of undersea cables being damaged in multiple areas, including in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, a US Department of State spokesperson said on Friday in response to queries from the Central News Agency.
The spokesperson cited the New York Principles on Undersea Cables, which laid out the US’ commitment to working with allies and partners to maintain and increase the security and resilience of undersea cable infrastructure, which is indispensable to global commerce and digital development.
Photo: Reuters
On Nov. 17 and 18 last year, the C-Lion1 cable between Finland and Germany, and the BCS East-West Interlink cable between Lithuania and Sweden were cut. The following month, the Estlink 2 electricity cable connecting Estonia and Finland, along with four data cables, were cut in the Finnish exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 (伊鵬3) was seen near the damaged section of the Estlink 2 cable in Swedish territorial waters.
The US is also looking into incidents in which investigators are unable to obtain necessary access or transparent information, the spokesperson said.
The Financial Times on Dec. 23 reported that China had allowed Swedish, German, Finnish and Danish representatives to board the ship as observers, but had refused access to Swedish public prosecutor Henrik Soderman.
On Jan. 3, Taiwan reported undersea cable damage in waters off Yehliu (野柳), which was allegedly caused by the Cameroon-registered freighter Shunxing-39 (順興39號), owned by a company in Hong Kong.
The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday said that special monitoring zones would be established around undersea cables to prevent possible “gray zone” tactics by China.
Ministry officials have met with Coast Guard Administration (CGA) representatives and other agencies to collaborate on potential preventive action and intelligence sharing, Colonel Hu Chung-hua (胡中華) said.
The National Security Bureau on Thursday said that it is working with the ministry and the CGA to monitor ships flying flags of convenience.
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 special monitoring zones or have asked to enter Taiwanese ports, it said.
In a separate incident in October 2023, the Newnew Polar Bear, a Hong Kong-registered ship, was accused of damaging the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland by dragging its anchor for several hundred nautical miles.
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