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.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
RSS