Chinese Vessel Loiters Over 8,000-Mile Taiwan-US Cable as Coast Guard Warns 200-Foot Ship Away
Updated
Updated · TechRadar · Aug 9
Chinese Vessel Loiters Over 8,000-Mile Taiwan-US Cable as Coast Guard Warns 200-Foot Ship Away
3 articles · Updated · TechRadar · Aug 9
Summary
Taiwan's Coast Guard warned a 200-foot Chinese research vessel to change course after filming it lingering directly above the Pacific Light Cable Network in the Philippine Sea.
Windward said the ship moved slowly along the cable route, a pattern maritime analysts view as a strong indicator of possible intelligence-gathering around fixed undersea infrastructure.
The 8,000-mile fiber-optic network links Taiwan, the Philippines and the United States, carrying traffic through infrastructure that underpins a system handling about 99% of intercontinental internet data.
Analysts said Chinese research-vessel activity east of Taiwan has increased since June, though no public evidence shows this ship collected intelligence or passed information to China's military.
The cable has added strategic weight because Taiwan makes more than 90% of the world's most advanced chips, and its Hong Kong link was dropped in 2020 over US security concerns.