Taiwan increases defensive patrols around 24 undersea cables — closely monitoring '96 blacklisted China-linked boats' with 24-hour operations

Taiwan Coast Guard officers boarded a suspicious Chinese fishing vessel this weekend.

Taiwan has intensified patrols around the 24 undersea cables that connect it with the global internet. For the most efficient use of Taiwan’s limited coast guard resources, it is paying particular attention to “96 blacklisted China-linked boats,” reports Reuters. The strategy update is hoped to address what is seen as an increasingly popular gray-zone warfare tactic, namely the threat of sabotaging undersea connections.

For its exclusive report on the state of the subsea communications cable threat around the island, Reuters took a trip on the 100-ton Taiwan Coast Guard Ship PP-10079. We mentioned this exact vessel in our report on the severing of Chungwha Telecom’s TP3, by the Togo-registered (but Chinese-crewed) Hong Tai back in February.