Taiwan Steps up Surveillance of Flags of Convenience After Undersea Cable Incident

Deck crew of Taiwanese navy stand by on the Tuo Chiang patrol ship during a simulated attack drill off Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan, on Jan. 9, 2025. Chiang Ying-ying/AP

Taiwan will step up the surveillance of ships flying flags of convenience, and may board them, after a cargo vessel linked to China was suspected of damaging an undersea communications cable, the government said on Wednesday.

On Jan. 5 Taiwan’s coastguard claimed a Chinese vessel severed an undersea cable located off the port of Keelung on the north coast of the island.

The coast guard said the Shunxin-39, a vessel registered in both Cameroon and Tanzania, was seven nautical miles off Yehliu at 4:40 p.m. local time on Jan. 3, prompting it to dispatch a ship in response.

Although the coast guard could not verify that the ship belongs to China, Taiwanese officials believe it was owned by a Hong Kong-registered company, Jie Yang Trading, with ties to the mainland.

The Taiwanese coastguard was unable to board the ship due to bad weather.

There are many reasons for flying flags of convenience, which means registering with a country which is not that of the ship’s actual owner, or home port.

It can be a commercial decision as some countries charge much lower registration fees and do not expect such high levels of maritime bureaucracy as nations such as the United States, Britain and France.

But sometimes, as in the case of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, it is more sinister and implies a deliberate deception, to obscure the true nature of the vessel.

Last week Guo Wenjie, the director of Jie Yang Trading, confirmed the Shunxin-39 had been in the Keelung area at the time but denied it was responsible for damaging the cable.

Guo told Reuters: “There’s no evidence at all. I spoke to the ship captain and for us it was a normal trip.”

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau published a report on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting in the parliament in Taipei on Thursday, in which it said it planned to step up surveillance and management of ships carrying flags of convenience.

It said if these ships enter within 24 nautical miles of Taiwan’s coast, and are close to undersea cables, the coast guard will board them and investigate their purpose.

The bureau said such ships, which have previously been found to misreport information, will also be put on a list of ships for priority inspection at ports.

‘Collect Threat Alert Information’

“The bureau will continue to exchange intelligence with like-minded countries, collect threat alert information, analyze developing trends in sabotage techniques and false covers, and share prevention and response experience,” it added.

The bureau said Taiwan would also seek greater cooperation with the United States and European countries over undersea cable infrastructure.

It follows a series of incidents in the Baltic Sea in which undersea cables have been damaged.

On Dec. 26, a Russian-owned ship, the Eagle S, flying the flag of the Cook Islands, was boarded by the Finnish Border Guard after it was suspected of cutting an undersea cable, Estlink-2, which supplies power to Estonia.

In November a Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, was suspected of cutting two undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic.

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance would launch a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic.

Taiwan has become increasingly concerned in recent years about “gray zone” activities by the Chinese around the island, which they fear is designed to pressure it without direct confrontation.

These activities include sand dredging and balloon overflights.

Nation Under Constant Threat

Taiwan—officially known as the Republic of China—is considered a rogue province by the communist regime in Beijing, and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly threatened to invade if Taiwan ever declared independence.

Democratic Taiwan has been self-governing since 1949 and has never been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

The United States is Taiwan’s most important ally and biggest arms supplier.

Taiwan is facing an ever-aggressive China, which seeks to seize the self-governing island and project its air and naval power in the western Pacific and beyond.

A Taiwan Coast Guard ship travels past the coast of China, in the waters off Nangan island of Matsu archipelago in Taiwan on Aug. 16, 2022. Reuters/Ann Wang

Last week former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he believed President-elect Donald Trump would take a similar approach to Taiwan as he did during his first term in office.

As an island nation Taiwan is especially vulnerable to tampering with its undersea cable infrastructure.

According to the website Submarine Networks, there are 15 undersea cables linking Taiwan to Japan, China itself, the Philippines and various islands off the Chinese coast, such as Kinmen, which belong to Taiwan.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation lists 43 nations, including Cameroon and Tanzania, as flags of convenience countries.

Reuters contributed to this report.