China sabotaging submarine cables near Taiwan underscores the US’ need to bolster Taiwan’s telecommunications infrastructure and monitor vessels in the Taiwan Strait, the top US Indo-Pacific commander said.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command, made the remarks at a US Senate hearing after Taiwan on Friday for the first time indicted the Chinese captain of a Togolese-registered vessel that allegedly severed an undersea communication cable linking Taiwan proper and Penghu in February.
US Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen asked the admiral to elaborate on attacks by Chinese ships on Taiwan’s undersea cables.
Photo: Reuters
Paparo said that severing the cables is part of China’s “gray zone” activities directed against Taiwan that fall short of war, but could destabilize the region and serve as a prelude of war.
The use of its maritime militia in the operations enabled Beijing to damage a state’s “information enterprise ... without potentially signaling an intent to go to war,” he said.
US intelligence services need to penetrate locations vulnerable to cable attacks to detect and deter such operations before they could be launched, Paparo said.
In addition, the US should develop redundant capabilities in the form of low and medium Earth orbit satellites to ensure that communication between Taiwan and the US and its allies are not dependent on cables alone, he said.
Washington’s efforts should be oriented toward bolstering Taiwan’s resilience so that China could not isolate Taiwan even if the US failed to prevent submarine cables from being cut, he said.
Separately, Paparo said the Chinese Liberation Army (PLA) last year saw significant growth in its capabilities in continuing its campaign to menace Taiwan.
PLA forces engaged in harassing activities in the Taiwan Strait and beyond has increased threefold from previous years, he added.
Chinese military activities around Taiwan proper is more properly defined as rehearsals for invasion than drills or exercises, he said.
Beijing’s aggressive posture has backfired as it has drawn global concern and spurred Taiwan to accelerate its defense, Paparo said.
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