By James Pomfret and Yimu Li
HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) – The Chinese director of a company whose ship Taiwan suspects damaged an undersea communications cable said on Wednesday there was no evidence the ship was involved in an incident that has alarmed the government in Taipei.
Taiwan's Coast Guard said it had sent a ship to investigate a report issued Friday from communications company Zhonghua communication (BCBA:) An undersea communications cable was damaged off the northern coast of the island.
Upon arriving at the scene, it found the Chinese ship “Shunxin 39”, registered in both Cameroon and Tanzania, which it requested to be returned to the port in Taiwan for investigation.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that bad weather prevented it from boarding the ship to check it, but it “could not rule out the possibility” that the ship was engaging in “gray zone” activities. But she did not provide any direct evidence of this.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has repeatedly complained about Chinese activities in the “gray zone” around the island, which are aimed at pressuring it without direct confrontation, such as flying balloons and dredging sand.
Taiwan's digital ministry said the submarine cable was cut on January 3, but service was not affected after backup cables were activated.
Shipping records show that radio communications were exchanged with the vessel registered to a Hong Kong company called Jie Yang Trading.
In his first public comments on the incident, Guo Wenjie, Jie Yang's manager, denied any ship involvement, though he confirmed its presence in the area. He added that Taiwanese authorities had not detained her after radio communications with the captain.
“There is no evidence at all,” he told Reuters by phone, denying accusations that it was responsible for the damage. “I spoke with the ship's captain and it was a normal voyage for us.”
Speaking in Mandarin, Guo confirmed that the ship was owned by Jie Yang Trading, which Hong Kong company registration records show was established in 2020, with Guo as the sole director.
Its listed address in Hong Kong was one room in a shared office space for a secretarial services company in a gritty industrial building.
China did not respond to requests for comment on the incident, while Taiwan, which strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, says communications have not been affected.
In response to Guo's comments, the Taiwan Coast Guard said it had not yet been able to gauge the ship's “true intent” through tracking data.
Shipping data showed that the ship remained in the waters off northern Taiwan from early December until its transmission signal was turned off on January 3.
Guo declined to specify why the ship remained in the area, or the purpose of the trip, but said Taiwan authorities had only requested details of its GPS movements.
“I don't understand why there is so much news about this,” Guo said. “The ship was anchored, so it stopped in the nearby waters,” he added.
“We followed normal rules and procedures. If not, Taiwan would have investigated and detained us.”
The incident has alarmed Taiwanese security officials, who are scheduled to brief diplomats based in Taipei on the matter this week, sources familiar with the matter said.
A senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the matter was sensitive: “We must inform everyone that such behavior does not only affect Taiwan. It could also affect international communications.”
“It is relevant to the interests of many countries.”
Taiwan has been particularly nervous about the vulnerability of undersea communications cables following incidents of complaints made by Baltic Sea countries since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Last month, Taiwan's presidential office conducted its first “tabletop” exercise involving government agencies outside the armed forces, simulating scenarios such as military escalation with China and cutting international maritime links, officials said.
In 2023, two undersea cables were cut with the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, which lie near the Chinese coast, cutting off their 14,000 residents from the Internet.
Authorities said at the time that initial findings showed a Chinese fishing vessel and a Chinese cargo ship caused the disruption, but there was no evidence that Beijing intentionally tampered with the cables.
In recent years, Taiwan has worked to enhance its ability to deal with emergencies from disasters to military conflict, including alternative communications such as satellites if its international submarine cables are cut.
